Turmoil Begins
by Puff the Ninja
Summary: With all five Voltron lions reunited, the paladins begin their training, battle robeasts, and fight off the remnants of Sendak's forces. Meanwhile, Mari struggles with her past and bonds with the local Arusians. **Rated T just to be safe**
1. Chapter 1

**Author's note: Hello everybody! I hope you all had a great Thanksgiving! Sorry it took me so long to upload, I've just been editing the next few chapters and doing school work. So with finals coming up, new chapters probably won't be coming out on a daily basis (like with the first story) as I am scrambling to wrap up this semester. But I'll upload when I can and hopefully this story will be completed by the time Christmas break rolls around. So with that, here's the second story!

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

 _"Come on, Mari. Hold onto my hand."_

 _"I'm a big girl. I can walk by myself," the six year old girl pouted stubbornly, but she wasted no time latching onto her big brother's hand._

 _Takashi smiled and ruffled her hair playfully. "I know, I know," he said. "But I'm not taking any chances. I don't want you getting lost, okay?"_

 _"I'm not gonna get lost."_

 _"Well, it's better to be safe than sorry," he chuckled._

 _Since the elementary, middle, and high schools were so close to their house, Takashi had taken it upon himself to pick up his little sister everyday so that they could walk home together. And although she claimed that she didn't need him as an escort, he could tell that Mari secretly enjoyed their after school walks._

 _She swung their entwined hands back and forth repeatedly as she rambled on about her day and Takashi took in every word. He smiled and nodded, making a comment or asking a question here and there to show that he was listening. In no time at all, they had entered their neighborhood and the duo walked down the familiar streets towards their house._

 _"Oh! Good afternoon, Takashi," a passing neighbor greeted them warmly, and Mari instantly shut her mouth, her gaze narrowing at the older woman blocking their path._

 _"Hello, Miss Yada," her brother nodded politely in response. "How are you doing today?"_

 _"I doing just fine, thank you," she smiled. "Are you walking your sister home again?"_

 _"Yes, ma'am."_

 _"You're such a sweet boy. Take care on the way home, you two."_

 _Continuing down the sidewalk, Mari looked over her shoulder and cast an untrusting glare at the little old lady behind them. Miss Yada's seemingly kind and innocent demeanor may have had her brother fooled, but Mari knew better. She had heard the old hag gossip to the other neighbors about their family; the crone practically worshipped Takashi while she constantly belittled the "troublesome little sister"._

 _"Takashi is extremely talented in both sports and academics," Miss Yada would gush._

 _"He has the makings of a leader, that's for sure," another neighbor would say._

 _"His mother told me he wants to enroll in the Garrison's Space Exploration Program as a pilot once he's finished with high school," someone else would mention._

 _"Oh, he'd make a wonderful pilot!" Miss Yada would exclaim._

 _"What does Mariko want to do when she grows up?"_

 _"Oh, her? She's adopted her brother's dream it seems."_

 _"I guess we can't all have original thoughts."_

 _"With how clingy she is, it's no wonder that Takashi's started to rub off on her."_

 _"Now if she'd only copy the rest of his personality traits. Unlike him, she's such a temperamental and hostile girl."_

 _"I know! The other day she pulled my poor cat's tail after it scratched her."_

 _"What a beastly child."_

 _"She causes quite a lot of trouble, doesn't she? For both her parents and for her poor brother."_

 _"I wonder how they stand her."_

 _"She's so incredibly useless."_

* * *

Mari was abruptly jolted out of her dream by the din of a deafening alarm and nearly fell out of bed in surprise. Blinking wearily, her vision focused and her breath caught in her throat as she took in the unfamiliar room. Then reality hit her like a ton of bricks as the past day's events came rushing back to her: Takashi was alive and they had found a Blue Lion that had taken them into outer space. And now she (along with her brother and four other boys) was in a castle on an alien planet, trillions of miles away from her cozy bedroom back home on Earth.

Plopping back down on her pillow, Mari sighed and tried to steady her breathing, the initial panic subsiding. The alarm screeching over the loudspeakers continued to drone on and she frowned in annoyance. Was this some sort of Altean alarm clock? Checking her phone, it was nearly eight o'clock AM by Earth standards and she groaned. Good lord, what were Coran and Allura thinking? She'd have to explain to them that it was way too early for humans to get up at this time of day.

Then, as if on cue, the princess's voice shouted over the speakers, "Everybody up! Zarkon's attacking! The castle's about to be destroyed! Go, go, go! We need Voltron now!"

 _Oh, well, doesn't apply to me_ , Mari thought tiredly before burrowing beneath her covers again. She closed her eyes and waited for sleep to claim her once more, but the alert siren just kept blaring. Grumbling in annoyance, she sat up and retrieved her backpack, fishing out her earbuds from the front pocket before returning to the bed. Once she got comfortable, she plugged them into her phone and began blasting music to drone out the irritating alarm.

Dozing off again for what seemed like just a few minutes, Mari was abruptly awoken once more as Shiro yanked the warm covers off her. Then in one swift movement, he scooped her up, effortlessly slinging her over his shoulder like a sack of potatoes before heading out into the hall.

"Whoa, whoa, whoa! What the heck, man?!" Mari shrilled, removing her earbuds and squirming uncomfortably in her awkward position.

"Allura said for everybody to get up," Shiro said, his hold on her unwavering as she fidgeted. "Including you."

"Nooooo, I'm tired Takashiiiiii," she whined. "Can't you just let me sleep for a few more minutes?"

"I already let you sleep in for an hour longer than the rest of us."

"It's been an hour already?"

"Yep. It's time to get up and face the day!" he exclaimed much to cheerfully and Mari groaned.

"But you guys don't even need me to form Voltron," she grumbled.

"That may be true, but that doesn't make you any less a part of this team. If everyone else has to get up early, then that means you do too," he said.

"You're so mean," she huffed and Shiro chuckled.

"I'm just being fair," he smiled slightly. "Now stop complaining. Training starts today."

* * *

While Allura continued to check the Castle's systems, Mari and Coran were put in charge of overseeing paladin training. It did not go well, to say the least. None of the five boys were in sync in the slightest, and exercise after exercise, they failed to work as a team. By the time it came for them to fight the Gladiator, it came as no surprise when they were all defeated with ease.

"You guys have the worst teamwork I have ever seen in my entire life," Mari commented as she watched them from the training deck's control tower. "Were you even trying to defeat that thing?"

"Hey, give us a break will ya?" Pidge groaned as he picked himself off the floor. "We're tired, okay?"

"Yeah! Unlike you, we've been working our butts off all day!" Lance pitched in.

Mari frowned and crossed her arms defensively out of habit. "I got up the same time as you guys."

"Shiro let you sleep in an hour longer," Keith muttered and she shot him an irritated glance.

"Whatever," she quickly brushed off his remark. "The point is, that simulation was five against one and you were all equipped with much more deadly weapons that your opponent. You should've won easily."

"You weren't the one fighting that thing," Hunk nodded pointedly at the immobile Gladiator android that sat in a crumpled heap on the floor. "It's super hard to beat."

"Oh, please," Mari rolled her eyes but Lance was quick to cut her off.

"Oh, yeah? If it's so 'easy' to beat, then why don't _you_ try and fight it?" he challenged.

"Yeah!" Pidge was quick to agree. "You haven't done a single training exercise all day!"

"It's not really fair if you think about it…" Hunk added timidly and Mari's eye twitched in annoyance.

"Hey, I'm not the one who's going to be flying a lion and constantly getting thrown into combat situations from now on," she fired back, her irritation levels beginning to to rise rapidly. "Besides, unlike you guys, my attire isn't exactly armor. I'm not gonna fight that thing unless I have protection."

The boys were quiet for a moment, frowning up at her from the training deck floor. Then Keith suddenly smirked and said, "It sounds like you're just too scared to fight it."

The paladins could almost hear whatever remained of her patience snapping in two. They watched as she yanked off her headset, tossing it to a startled Coran before disappearing from the control tower window.

"And now she's pissed," Shiro sighed tiredly.

"You really know how to push her buttons," Pidge muttered, addressing the Red Paladin.

"Keith, why'd you have to provoke the beast?" Lance groaned.

"You're the one who started it!" he shot back defensively.

"Oh no, she's gonna kill us!" Hunk squealed. "We pushed her over the edge and now she's gonna kill us!"

When Mari entered the room, the Yellow Paladin yelped and cowered behind Shiro, using him as a human shield as the ticked off girl approached. Her expression was murderous and she already held her staff in hand, the weapon extended retractable blade and all.

"Coran, start the same level training sequence," she called up to him, brushing past the paladins as she marched towards the center of the room.

The Gladiator that had been sprawled out on the floor immediately disappeared and another one dropped from the ceiling. Its gaze locked onto its solitary opponent before whirring to life and lunging at Mari. It brought its staff down on her like a sword and she managed to nimbly dodge out of the way, only for it to quickly retaliate and sweep-kick her out from under her feet. She landed on her back hard and was just barely able to avoid being hit with the butt of the robot's staff.

 _Come on, pull it together!_ she scolded herself. _It's just like you, using a staff and martial arts. You've competed in tons of competitions like this!_

 _Yeah, against humans, not alien robots!_ her logical side immediately countered.

Standing hurriedly, Mari held her staff at the ready just as the Gladiator's weapon came at her again. She managed to block it this time, but she was alarmed by the robot's brute strength as her staff was nearly knocked from her grasp. Taking advantage of her surprise, the android proceeded to deliver a roundhouse kick to her chest and the air was knocked out of Mari as she was thrown onto the floor. Wheezing and gasping for air, she sat up slowly, one hand pressed to her left side. It felt like it was on fire, pain lacing all throughout her torso.

"You know," Lance piped up from the sidelines. "You can always quit if you—"

"Shut up, Lance!" Mari growled, her eyes never leaving the Gladiator as it began to charge towards her.

Grimacing through the pain, she scrambled to her feet and just barely managed to block its attack. The robot was using all its strength to press down on her weapon, trying to push her down onto floor. Mari's knees threatened to buckle beneath her and she grit her teeth in frustration, unwilling to submit. She couldn't let this stupid piece of machinery beat her, not when she was supposed to be teaching the guys a lesson, proving them wrong and slapping some sense back into them.

For a split second, Mari's gaze flicked to Shiro and she was surprised by his grim expression. He looked pale and his jaw was set, his eyes filled with fear and worry as they followed the match. Why was he getting so worked up? He had seen her fight before, he knew what she was capable of. What was she doing that was making him so anxious?

 _Troublesome little sister._

Her dream from last night came rushing back to her and Mari nearly lost her balance.

 _She causes quite a lot of trouble…her poor brother._

It felt like the strength in her arms was being drained rapidly and they began shaking from the strain of keeping the robot away from her. The blow that had been delivered to her chest earlier was aching more and more and it hurt to breathe.

 _I wonder how they stand her._

The Gladiator suddenly stepped back, but before Mari could regain her composure, it knocked her weapon out of her hands and swept her off of her feet with one end of its staff. She fell onto her back once more and her opponent loomed over her, its weapon raised and ready to deliver the final blow.

 _She's so incredibly useless._

"End training sequence! End it now!"

The light faded from the robot's eye as it powered down, the end of its staff crackling with electricity as it hovered just inches above Mari's stomach. It dissolved into a blue stream of light as the simulation ended, and as soon as it had completely disappeared, Shiro bolted towards her.

"Okay, that's enough training for today," he said, his voice quivering ever so slightly as he helped her sit up.

"Why'd you stop it?" she said, her eyes narrowing as they focused on her brother. "I was doing fine."

"No, you weren't," Keith scoffed.

"Yeah, you were getting your butt kicked," Lance said.

"You took some bad hits," Shiro continued. "We've got to get you to the medical bay."

Well, he wasn't wrong. Her space suit may have been incredibly durable and flexible, but it certainly paled in comparison to their paladin armor. The left side of her chest was still throbbing painfully and she hoped to God that she hadn't cracked a rib. But it was already embarrassing enough that she had failed to beat the Gladiator in front of nearly the entire team. The thought of having to be the only one to receive medical attention on their first day of training made her feel even more pathetic.

"No, I'm fine," she insisted, scooting away from Shiro and quickly standing up on her own. She winced and inhaled sharply at the sudden movement, another jolt of pain coursing through her left side.

"Oh really?" Shiro raised a doubtful eyebrow. "If you're fine then why are you crying?"

"I'm not!" Mari shrilled defensively just as a hot tear streaked down her cheek. She bristled and furiously brushed them away, wondering vaguely why and when the water works had started. Her cheeks heated up as she felt everyone staring and she had the sudden urge to slap all of them.

"It's all right, my dear," Coran said kindly, having come down to the training deck to help. "Let's go to the examination room and asses the damage."

He gently turned her away from the others and slowly led her to the exit doors. Behind them, Mari could just barely hear the guys whispering amongst themselves.

"Nice going, Keith," Lance muttered.

"Again, you're the one who started it!" he hissed back.

"Aw, man…I feel bad now," Hunk sighed. "We made her cry."

"The stupid robot made her cry, not us," Lance pointed out.

"Well, we provoked her so…it kinda _is_ our faults," Hunk said slowly.

"Will you guys shut up?" Pidge huffed. "She can still hear you."

"What? No she can't," Lance said. "Here, watch: Mari, if you think I'm the handsomest and most talented guy you've ever met, don't say a single thing."

"Shut up, Lance," Mari called over her shoulder just before the training deck doors swished shut behind her and Coran.


	2. Chapter 2

**Author's note: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

Mari frowned at the reddish-purple splotch on the skin over her left ribcage. It was about the size of her fist, and when she brushed her fingers over it lightly she winced as it throbbed dully. Yep, her ribs were definitely bruised, but thank goodness they weren't broken.

Sighing miserably to herself, Mari peeled back the medical patch Coran had given her and pressed it to her injury. It stuck to the skin and began to glow faintly, gradually growing colder and easing the swelling. She stared at the strange Altean icepack in awe for a moment before pulling her t-shirt back on, hiding the patch from sight.

Showered and fully dressed now, Mari took her time heading to dinner. After her humiliating display with the Gladiator, she wasn't all too eager to face the rest of the team so soon, and she moved at a less than moderate pace as she tried to find the main dining hall. It felt like she was walking through a labyrinth as she ventured down the castle halls, taking multiple wrong turns and reaching dead ends. The constant backpedalling was seriously starting to get old, and just as she began cursing Coran's grandfather for not installing maps throughout the massive building, the dining hall finally came into view.

"You're late," Allura frowned in dismay as Mari entered the room and shuffled to her seat at the table. "What took you so long?"

"This castle is a freaking maze and I was all alone navigating it. What do you think took me so long?" she snapped bitterly and the princess looked taken aback. Immediately feeling guilty, Mari sighed and added gentler this time, "I'm sorry, Allura. I didn't mean to lash out at you. I just got lost and I'm… _tired_ , okay?"

"Pssh! Why?" Lance scoffed. "You got to sleep longer than the rest of us _and_ you barely did any training today—OW!"

The Blue Paladin was cut off as Mari swiftly kicked him in the knee from underneath the table. Allura cracked a smile and Pidge snorted, resulting in Lance shooting them incredulous looks.

"It's not funny!" he whined. "Getting hurt isn't funny!"

"Oh please. You're wearing armor," Pidge rolled his eyes.

"She's aiming for the knees," Lance grumbled. "Where there's less protection."

"It still shouldn't hurt that badly," the Green Paladin shrugged.

"Whatever. It still stings," Lance pouted and he tried to cross his arms indignantly but failed terribly as Hunk and Keith's arms got in the way.

"Why're you guys handcuffed together?" Mari glanced at the paladins' linked wrists before raising a skeptical eyebrow at Coran and Allura. "Is this, uh, how Alteans normally eat together?"

"Oh no, no, no, no," Coran chuckled with a shake of his head. "This is just another training exercise for them."

"We have to feed each other," Shiro explained grimly.

"Like a pack of yalmors!" Coran added with a grin.

"Yeah, I don't know what those are, but…this certainly should be interesting," Mari smirked.

As dinner commenced, she watched with mild amusement as the paladins struggled with their new teamwork-centered task. Globs of green food goo was strewn all across the table as they struggled to eat and it wasn't long until they began arguing with one another.

"Ugh," Allura muttered after a while of the commotion. "Do Earthlings _ever_ stop complaining?"

"Can't you just give us a break?" Shiro sighed, trying to remain patient. "Everyone's been working really hard today."

"Yeah!" Keith piped up. "Were not some prisoners for you to toy with, like…like…"

"Like a bunch of toy prisoners!" Lance provided.

"Yes! Thank you, Lance!" Keith exclaimed.

"Wow. Must've taken forever to come up with _that_ one," Mari grumbled before eating another spoonful of the alien goo.

"Hey, nobody asked for your input!" Keith snapped at her.

"Yeah, zip it, Mari!" Lance added, earning him another kick. "Ow! Stop doing that!"

"If you want me to stop, then keep your mouth shut and don't say anything stupid."

"But you've been telling me to shut up all day!"—she kicked him again—"OW! Grrrr! Why you…!"

Without even thinking, Lance scooped up two hefty handfuls of his dinner and hurled them at her. Mari inhaled sharply as the slimy goo hit her smack dab in the face, and she bristled as the green glop slowly slid down her face. Everyone was stunned into silence, their gazes shifting anxiously between Mari and Lance as they waited for her reaction.

Stiffly wiping most of the food out of her eyes, Mari's gaze locked onto the Blue Paladin. "What. The. _QUIZNAK_ , Lance!" she growled, her hands clenching into fists at her side as she abruptly stood from the table.

"I-I'm sorry!" he squeaked fearfully, a look of pure terror plastered across his face as he registered his horrible blunder. He held his hands up defensively in front of him, waiting for her to lean over the table and strangle him. "I-I didn't mean to! Please, don't hurt me!"

"Oh, ho," Mari began to laugh darkly, and a shiver was sent down Lance's spine as she reached for the nearest bowl of food goo. "Oh, no…you're a freaking _DEAD MAN_ , Lance!"

In one swift movement, she completely emptied the bowl of its contents, flinging the green slop all over him. Unfortunately for the other boys, she hadn't taken her aim into account and she had accidentally covered them in the goo as well.

"Mari…" Shiro began scoldingly.

"Heh…sorry?" she shrugged, and a smile played on her lips as she took in the sludge-covered paladins.

A mischievous grin spread across Hunk's face and his eyes gleamed as he exclaimed, "Oh, it's on now!" He dove face first into his plate of food and gathered as much goo as he possibly could into his mouth before spewing it all over Mari and the two unfortunate Alteans that were right next to her.

Coran and Allura shared disgusted looks before grabbing their plates and beginning to fling bits of their meals at Hunk. The other boys immediately began to join in on the fun and a full-force food fight raged on between the group of rambunctious humans and the Alteans. Green goop was thrown everywhere and no one could escape getting drenched in it. But despite the disgustingness of it all, they were having fun.

When everyone had tired out and ceased fire, Allura sat back in a chair and Mari collapsed on the floor. Her injured side throbbed dully from the sudden movements and from laughing too hard, but she was still grinning from ear to ear nonetheless.

"You're finally working together as one," the princess beamed proudly at the five chuckling paladins.

"Hey…She's right," Keith grinned at Lance.

"I actually don't hate you right now," Lance admitted, returning the smile."

"Are you guys thinking what I'm thinking?" Hunk said.

"Let's form Voltron!" Shiro spoke for the group and the other paladins cheered in agreement.

After un-handcuffing the boys, Allura, Coran, and Mari quickly wiped the goo off of themselves and hurried outside while the paladins headed to their lions.

"You think they'll be able to do it?" Mari wondered aloud as they waited.

"With how in sync they were just moments ago? Yes," the princess nodded confidently.

The fives lions flew out of the castle and the trio watched in awe as they began to glow. Breaking down one by one, the lions connected to one another and transformed the giant and mighty robot that was Voltron.

"Seems like they just needed a common enemy," Allura smiled at Mari knowingly. "Thank you."

Mari felt her cheeks grow warm and she shrugged half-heartedly. "If anyone, you should thank Lance for pissing me off," she said. "I still can't believe he stooped to throwing food at me…How childish can he get?"

"Well, like the old proverb says: a man can be driven to do anything if a beautiful woman is just really, _really_ mean to him," Coran piped up, twirling his mustache proudly, and as Mari scowled in disagreement, Allura couldn't help but laugh.

* * *

"Man, that was cool!" Lance gushed once everyone had returned to the castle. "I'm so charged up, I don't know if I'm gonna be able to sleep tonight!"

"Not me. When my head hits the pillow, I'm gonna be lights out," Keith said.

"Guys, I just want you to know that I realized when we were in Voltron, we're brothers, man!" Hunk beamed, bringing both Lance and Keith into a tight—if not awkward—hug. "You know? We're totally connected. No secrets, no barriers, no nothing. We're brothers all the way. I love you guys!"

"G-Forces mess with your head a little bit?" Keith asked, a wry grin on his face.

"Yeah, maybe a little. I don't know," Hunk admitted. "It's been a tough few days."

Leaning against the door frame of the lounge, Mari tiredly watched their mini celebration. Today had been a long day for everyone and she was feeling worn out; she could only imagine what the guys were going through after a full day of training. Stifling a yawn, she turned and headed down the corridor towards her room when she heard footsteps approach from behind.

"Hey," Shiro greeted, falling into step with her. "Mind if I walk you to your room?"

"We're not kids anymore, you don't have to escort me everywhere," Mari said half-jokingly. "I think I can handle getting to my bedroom by myself."

"Just for old times sake then," he smiled.

"All right. Whatever," she relented and she let him walk with her.

"So, congrats on gaining four more brothers," she said after a while. "Oh, and for forming Voltron, of course."

"Hey, if they're my 'brothers' now, then they're yours too," Shiro nudged her gently, playfully.

"Not sure if I'm ready to have four more of those," Mari chuckled. "No, I'm content with one sibling, thank you very much."

Shiro laughed quietly at that and the two were cast into an uncomfortable silence once more. Finally he asked hesitantly, "How are your wounds?"

" _Wound_ ," she corrected. "I only had one. And the patch Coran gave me is really helping it."

"That's a relief."

"See? I told you I was fine. You were worrying for nothing."

Shiro faltered in his steps, causing Mari to slow down too. "What?" she asked, tilting her head curiously and raising a quizzical eyebrow at him.

"Are you…sure you're all right?" he asked.

"Yes. Why wouldn't I be?"

Her brother frowned uncertainly before saying, "I knew you could've beaten that thing, even without armor. But you hesitated and started tearing up right before it took you down. That's not like you at all, Mari."

"What, am I not allowed to cry now?" she scoffed, crossing her arms defensively. "Well, sorry! I'm only human, you know!"

"And what's with this new attitude of yours?" Shiro continued, his tone incredulous. "You're lashing out at teammates and acting so defensive—"

"I've always been this way!"

"No, no you haven't," he insisted. Sighing tiredly, he gently added, "Look, I'm not trying to lecture you or argue with you. All I'm saying is you don't seem like your usual self, and I want to know what's up."

"There's nothing wrong with me."

"Mari, _please,_ " Shiro begged as they came to a halt in front of her room. "I'm worried, about you."

She was silent for a moment, her eyes refusing to meet his. Pressing her lips tightly together to form a firm and angry line, she turned away from him and opened the door to her room. "Well, that's your own problem then," she muttered coldly. "I'm _fine_. Stop making a big deal out of nothing."

"Mari…"

"I said I'm all right, okay?" she finally snapped. "I'm tired so I'm going to bed now. Goodnight."

And before he could stop her, she slipped into her room, the door sliding shut behind her and locking Shiro out. He knocked a few times, demanding that she let him in so he could talk to her. But she refused to answer his pleas and waited with her back pressed to the door for him to leave. As soon as she heard his unhappy sigh followed by his retreating footsteps down the hall, Mari crawled into her bed and burrowed beneath the soft covers.

Tired but unable to go to sleep, she stared up at the ceiling, bitterly reviewing the day's events. Her own personal failures seemed to be stuck on repeat as they replayed over and over and over again, and the same haunting words continuously echoed within her mind.

 _She's such a temperamental and hostile girl._

 _She causes quite a lot of trouble._

 _She's so incredibly useless._

 _Her poor brother._

Grimacing, Mari screwed her eyes shut and shook her head slightly to get the voices out of her head. It was going to be a long night wasn't it? She could only hope that she at least had pleasanter dreams this time.


	3. Chapter 3

**Author's note: I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

As the next few days dragged by, the boys busied themselves with training as Voltron and the Alteans continued to repair the Castle, leaving Mari alone with nothing to do. She was anxious to try her hand at the Gladiator again, but with her injury still healing, Coran highly advised against it. He had suggested that she just sit back and relax, take it easy until the castle-ship was back to one hundred percent again, before she began her own training. And although Mari knew he meant well, she couldn't help but feel irked by his insistence.

"What the heck am I supposed to do now?" she muttered to herself one morning as she shuffled down one of the many hallways. She had already explored the majority of the Castle, enough to get herself familiarized with its many rooms and features. The observation deck—a vast room with a large floor-to-ceiling window—had caught her interest especially. Peering outside, Mari had been able to see miles and miles of the beautiful Arusian landscape and sparkling ocean below them. She could only imagine what it was like to gaze out the glass when the Castle was in space, gliding past millions of twinkling stars and other foreign celestial bodies, and she couldn't wait for the day when Coran and Allura finally launched the castle-ship, when their real space adventures would begin. But until then, everyone was grounded, and there was only one place left that Mari hadn't explored yet.

Donned in her suit with her weapon hanging on her hip and her helmet in hand, Mari stood in front of one of the many entrances of the Castle of Lions. She had never been outside for more than a few minutes, and she'd always been with someone else. Venturing out into an alien planet all alone was dangerous, yes, but she promised herself that she wouldn't stray off the castle grounds, being extra careful as she moved around. Besides, if something _did_ happen to go wrong, Coran and Allura would know where to look for her—she had told them she was going outside for a bit to look around. Plus, her helmet communicator was linked to the bridge, and the Castle's exterior sensors and cameras would be able to pick up on any possibly dangerous creatures that were nearby.

Taking a deep breath, Mari pressed her hand to the panel on the wall and the massive doors creaked open, letting sunlight pour into the dimly lit hall. A warm and comforting breeze greeted her as she stepped out into the sunshine and she smiled slightly to herself. Arus was a beautiful planet with a clean and breathable atmosphere, blue skies, healthy greenery, dazzling blue waters, and plenty of mountains. It reminded her very much of Earth, except it was more spacious and quieter, much more peaceful. She wondered how many more planets like Arus and Earth existed in the universe.

Off to the right of the entrance, a flat rock with strange markings carved into it caught her eye. Curious, she moved closer and pulled away the encroaching shrubbery that had begun to cover the stone, revealing a depiction of what looked like a humanoid figure with a lion head. Etched near the bottom of the rock were three smaller figures that appeared to be praying to the lion-like entity.

 _Huh…_ Mari hummed, stepping back to take in the whole image. _I'm assuming the lion person is Voltron, and those ram-people are…native Arusians?_

She couldn't know for sure; they had yet to see an Arusian, if they even existed at all. For all she knew, Arus was completely uninhabited.

Out of the corner of her eye, there was a sudden flash of movement and she whipped her head up just in time to see a small life form dive for cover behind a nearby boulder. Mari blinked in surprise and her hand instinctively curled around her staff, ready to activate it at any moment. Her eyes glued to where the creature was hidden, she waited for it to show itself once more. Several tension-filled seconds later, a strange yet cute being with ram-like horns peeked out over the rock to get a better look at her, and when it realized that she was staring back, it gasped quietly before quickly ducking back behind the stone.

Her heartbeat increasing slightly—whether from excitement or fear she didn't know—Mari cautiously inched closer to where the alien was hidden. "Um…Hi there," she said hesitantly and the creature yelped, prompting her to continue, "I know you're there, you don't have to hide. I won't hurt you."

 _As long as you don't hurt me_ , she silently added to herself.

After a moment of hesitation, the alien jumped out from its hiding spot, wielding what looked like a sword. It was surprisingly small in height, being no taller than her waist, and its eyes were alert yet curious.

"Hi," she greeted again, trying to smile friendly. "I guessing you're a local Arusian?"

The little alien simply stared at her and it dawned on Mari that it might not even understand English. Allura and Coran had briefly mentioned that it was a universal language, but there were instances in which more alienated groups were unfamiliar with the tongue.

However, it seemed that wasn't the case with Arus as the Arusian announced warily, "I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors! Who are you?"

"I'm Mariko," she introduced. "But I usually just go by Mari."

"Mari…ko," Klaizap repeated unsurely. "A strange name indeed."

"You're one to talk, _Klaizap_ ," she said and he frowned in confusion. Crouching down to be at eye level with him, Mari sighed and smiled slightly. "Anyhow, I guess it's nice to meet you, Klaizap."

She held out a hand to him and he simply stared at it suspiciously. "O-Oh. It's a handshake. You, uh…shake it," she explained, feeling stupid for not having taken into consideration that the Arusians probably didn't have the same greetings as Earthlings.

"Shake?" Klaizap repeated and Mari nodded before the little warrior took her outstretched hand. His hand was small, soft, and smooth, and as they shook, a delighted smile broke out onto his face. But before their conversation could go any further, Keith suddenly stomped out of the Castle. He marched towards the pair, abruptly grabbing Mari by the wrist and roughly pulling her to her feet before wedging himself protectively between her and the alien.

"Keith, what the heck?!" she shrilled, and a scowl crossed Klaizap's face as he raised his weapon towards the Red Paladin.

"What are you thinking? He could be dangerous!" Keith snapped at her angrily. Then turning to Klaizap he summoned his bayard and ordered, "Drop your weapon!"

"Nobody takes Klaizap's weapon!" the little warrior growled back.

"He's not dangerous!" Mari bristled, shoving Keith out of her way so she could kneel down next to the Arusian once more.

"You don't know that."

"I think the fact that I'm not dead now is proof enough that he isn't." She rolled her eyes before turning to Klaizap apologetically, "Sorry about my friend here. He's just being a hotheaded _idiot_ , as usual."

Keith stiffened and he stashed his bayard as he gave her an annoyed glare. Mari simply smirked in response just as Allura, Coran, Lance, and Hunk emerged from the Castle and hurried towards the group.

"The Castle alerted us about an approaching life form. Is everything all right?" the princess inquired.

"Mhm, everything's fine," Mari nodded. Then addressing her new acquaintance, she introduced everyone. "Klaizap, this is Lance, Hunk, Coran, and Princess Allura. The moody guy who wanted to hurt you earlier is Keith."

Klaizap looked at them one by one before introducing himself in the same way he had with Mari. "I am Klaizap, bravest of our warriors!" he said. "Our village is over Gazrell Hill. I came seeking answers as to why the Lion Goddess is angered with her followers, when I met Mari-ko."

"Followers?" Coran inquired.

"Lion Goddess?" Hunk asked.

"The one the ancients spoke of," Klaizap nodded, gesturing to the nearby carving that Mari had discovered earlier.

 _So Voltron is a Lion Goddess to them?_ she mused. "Why do you think she's angry with you?"

"Destruction is everywhere, Mari-ko!" Klaizap exclaimed. "In the past few suns, fire has rained from the heavens and a giant has danced in the sky!"

"I think he's talking about Voltron," Hunk whispered loudly to the group.

"Yeah. We got that," Lance said, giving him an unamused look.

"You have not angered the Lion Goddess," Allura smiled reassuringly to Klaizap.

"How can you be certain?" he asked.

"Because I am Allura," she stated regally. "And this is my castle."

 _That's not really an answer…_ Mari thought dryly to herself, but it seemed to be enough to quell the Arusian warrior's worries.

He gasped and got down on his hands and knees, bowing to the princess as he breathed in awe, "Lion Goddess!"

"Please, bravest warrior," Allura continued. "Take us to your village so that we may meet our neighbors."

"What about our mission to get off this planet and fight Zarkon?" Keith frowned in dismay.

"Part of the paladin's mission is to spread peace and diplomacy," the princess explained. "Arus has been our host for ten thousand years. These people deserve our thanks."

With Allura and Coran riding in the Yellow Lion with Hunk, Mari in the Red Lion with Keith, and Lance driving solo in the Blue Lion, the group headed towards Klaizap's village.

"Just so you know, I could've handled myself if Klaizap was dangerous," Mari narrowed her eyes at Keith as he focused on piloting.

"Just like how you handled yourself against the Gladiator the other day? Yeah. _Sure_ ," he scoffed and she grimaced, her grip on the back of his seat tightening.

"You don't know what I was going through," she muttered, her voice barely audible, and Keith cast her a mild look of confusion.

"What was that?"

"I said you're a real jerk," Mari frowned at him, and his face immediately scrunched up in anger.

"You didn't have to ride with me, you know!"

"And ride with Lance instead? Yeah, I don't think so."

Keith huffed in annoyance but said nothing in response, leaving her to silently glare holes into the back of his head.

* * *

The Arusians were a friendly race of aliens, very cheerfully and open to the paladins, Allura, Coran, and Mari. Klaizap insisted upon showing "Mari-ko" to his other warrior pals, proudly introducing her before proceeding to tell them how she had taught him her handshake.

"You sure are popular with these little guys, aren't you?" Lance noted as more Arusians swarmed around her, eager to meet Klaizap's new friend.

"That's because I don't try to kill any of them when we first meet," Mari said, shooting Keith a pointed look as she noted how several of the small aliens were staring up at him fearfully.

"Would you just let that go already?" he rolled his eyes and she scowled at him.

"Oh Lion Goddess!" the chief of the village piped up as he approached Allura and the others. "I, King of the Arusians, formally beg for your forgiveness! Please have mercy on us and accept our traditional Dance of Apology as atonement for our wrongdoings."

The king clapped and an Arusian hurried to the front of the crowd. "Commence Dance of Apology! Hurrah!" he ordered her, and as the musicians started to play their instruments, she began to dance.

"Please, there's no need for this," Allura began and the king quickly stopped the dancing Arusian.

"Moontow, halt!" he exclaimed and she froze in place, balancing precariously on one foot. "The Goddess has refused the apology. Start the sacrificial fire. We must throw ourselves in!"

Several feet away an Arusian immediately threw a torch onto a prepared stack of logs and flames quickly engulfed the whole structure.

"No!" Allura quickly intervened just as one of the villagers was on the verge of being thrown into the fire. "No sacrifices!"

"So…We may proceed with the dance?" the king brightened.

"That's a better alternative," the princess agreed and Moontow proceeded with her dance. When she had finished, the Arusians all bowed to Allura respectfully.

"Oh my," she said, unsure of how to react to the attention. "Please! Please rise. Thank you for that, but I am not a great being worthy of your worship. I accidentally put you all in danger. It is I who should be apologizing to you."

The Arusians lifted their heads off the ground and stared at her in confusion before she continued, "I am Princess Allura and these are the Voltron paladins. Although we originally came from different worlds…and have very, very, _very_ different traditions, we wish to live alongside you as friends."

"But the mighty robotic angel…" the king said, hurrying to his feet. "Has it not come to destroy us because of our immoral ways?"

"Voltron? No. In fact that mighty robot is here to protect you," Allura clarified. Then addressing the masses she added, "Let it be known that Voltron will protect every innocent being throughout the universe!"

The Arusians cheered and proceeded to socialize with their new friends. Several climbed over Lance and Hunk like they were jungle-gyms, but the two boys didn't seem to mind. And many others were eager to learn Mari-ko's handshake.

A few feet away, Mari watched as Keith hurriedly tried to escape the friendly atmosphere and she smiled to herself deviously. Leaning down to the nearest Arusian, she whispered to it, "See Keith over there? He's been awfully grouchy today and could _really_ use a hug."

The Arusian nodded eagerly in understanding and sprinted over to Keith, jumping up and latching onto him. Mari chuckled as his face contorted in surprise and confusion and the nearby Arusians smiled happily.

"Uh…" the Red Paladin muttered uncomfortably. "I don't usually hug strangers, but, uh…Man, you are cuddly."

"Thank you!" the alien replied, his deep voice startling Keith, and Mari and the other Arusians laughed out loud at his stunned expression.

* * *

While Allura and Coran began discussing a formal alliance with the Arusian king, Klaizap had given Mari and the paladins a personal tour of the area, committed to showing them every little detail of their settlement. It was about an hour before their little excursion ended, and as soon as Klaizap ran off to converse with his fellow warrior friends, Mari sat tiredly beneath one of the nearby trees. She watched as several young Arusians scurried past, giddily shaking hands with one another and giggling.

 _Who knew a simple handshake could cause such excitement?_ she thought to herself with a smile.

"What are you so happy about?" Keith asked, and her smile instantly disappeared as he came to lean on the tree next to her.

"Nothing," she replied lightly. Then, glancing up at him, she smirked and said, "So, how was your first hug of the year? I heard it was extra cuddly."

"You told him to do that, didn't you?" he frowned at her sourly.

"No clue what you're talking about," she shrugged innocently and he rolled his eyes but smiled slightly nonetheless.

"Shiro?" Allura suddenly perked up, her expression concerned as she strained to listen to an incoming transmission.

"What's going on?" Keith asked her, but before Allura could answer, the ground beneath them began to shake. Looking up in the sky, a large fireball was plummeting in the direction of the Castle.

"That's not good," Mari grumbled and she quickly scrambled to her feet.

"We've got to get back to the lions," Keith said grimly and she nodded in agreement.

"Everyone get inside and stay down!" Allura directed the panicked Arusians as they began to flee for shelter.

"I'm on it!" Hunk exclaimed, fleeing with them and the princess gave him a confused look as he sprinted past her.

"Not you!" Keith huffed, grabbing the frightened Yellow Paladin and dragging him back towards the lions.

"Allura, Coran, and I will stay here to help the Arusians," Mari said as she saw the other paladins off. "Go help my brother and Pidge and see what's going on."

"Don't have to tell us twice," Lance said, turning to board his lion.

"Don't die out there!" she called after them before turning to head back to the village.

* * *

Once the battle was over, Allura, Coran, and Mari were picked up and brought back to the castle. Apparently, what had crashed into Arus was a robotic beast—a Robeast—sent by Zarkon to find and attack the paladins. During the battle, it was discovered that Voltron could not only form a shield, but a sword as well, and both items were used to defeat the creature.

Shiro also relayed his apparent time spent as a gladiator while he was Zarkon's prisoner. As a form of entertainment for the empire, he and many other innocent captives had been forced to fight many opponents, with Shiro earning himself the name 'Champion' due to his successes in battle. He had also saved Matt Holt's (Pidge's brother) life in that Shiro had purposely injured Matt to spare him the torture of fighting in the arena.

 _When doesn't he achieve greatness?_ Mari sighed to herself, walking down the Castle halls as the others sent off the prisoners that Pidge and Shiro had previously saved from Sendak's ship. _He's a hero back home and he's a hero up here. And I'm still just…_

 _Useless, troublesome, insignificant._ A flurry of negative words came to mind, much to her dismay, and she shook her head angrily. _I have to stop thinking this way, darn it!_

Her steps faltered as she approached to the training deck doors and she came to a stop in front of them. The room would be empty and she'd finally be able to train without anyone watching—she could redeem herself against the Gladiator. Coran had told her not to, but she couldn't stand doing nothing anymore. Besides, what he didn't know wouldn't hurt him.

Steeling herself, she entered the training deck and stood in the middle of the floor. She put on her helmet and held her staff at the ready, taking several deep breaths to calm her nervously beating heart.

 _You're not useless or troublesome…That's all in the past. You don't need Takashi or anyone fretting over you. You can handle yourself now. You are strong and capable, and you can beat this dumb robot!_

A new surge of energy and determination coursing through her veins, Mari glared up at the ceiling and called out, "Start training level one!"

 _I can do this, I can do this,_ she repeated the mantra over and over again as the Gladiator fell from the ceiling. _I can do this!_

And she did.


	4. Chapter 4

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender! 

* * *

The next night, a celebration was held in honor of Voltron's defeat of the Robeast and in honor of the new alliance with the Arusians. With the Castle doors left wide open, the locals could come and go as they pleased throughout the party.

Hovering in the hallway, hidden from view, Mari peered out at the partygoers, anxiously shuffling from foot to foot as she scanned the crowd. Unlike the guys, who were allowed to wear their armor, Allura had forced her to wear something nicer than her regular attire and had provided her with a deep lavender dress with matching sandals. It was a rather plain, sleeveless garb with no frills, the hem just brushing her knees. And it was easy to move around in, but that didn't stop her from feeling embarrassed. Even with her weapon hanging at her side she still felt vulnerable in such an uncomfortable outfit.

 _I can't even remember the last time I wore a dress_ , she thought to herself, clutching her skirt nervously. _Ugh, I feel so stupid in this thing! If any of those idiots make fun of me, I swear I'm gonna—_

"What are you doing?"

Mari jumped in surprise and turned on her heel so quickly she nearly gave herself whiplash. Like a freaking ghost, Keith had silently crept up behind her, and he looked her up and down for a moment before raising an eyebrow.

"And what are you wearing?" he asked with a small smirk.

"What does it look like? It's a dress, ya jerk," Mari glowered at him.

"Never expected to see you wear one."

"Allura forced me into it," she grumbled, crossing her arms before turning to peer out at the crowd once more. Behind her, he let out an almost inaudible snort and her eye twitched in annoyance. "If the next thing that comes out of your mouth is snide, I swear I'm going to to punch you in the face," she warned.

"I wasn't going to say anything 'snide'," he rolled his eyes. "I was going to say it actually suits you pretty well."

He had barely mumbled that last part, but Mari had heard it. She frowned at him suspiciously, unable to read his stoic expression, before she said, deadpan, "Stop yanking my chain."

"Hey, hey! Whatcha guys hiding in the shadows for?" Lance asked, waltzing over and butting into their conversation. When he realized what Mari was wearing, he gasped in surprise. "WOW! You look so girly! You should dress like this more often."

"Never again!" she denied him, her face growing red from embarrassment. "Ugh! I'm done with this! I don't care what Allura says, I'm changing out of this stupid thing!"

"Oh, come on, lighten up a bit!" Lance grinned, taking her by the wrist and dragging her out into the crowd of Arusians. "You never dress up so now's the time to show it off!"

"Whoa," Hunk said as Lance and Mari approached, followed by Keith. "You look nice, Mari."

"Isn't she so cute?" Lance beamed, poking her cheek. "Aw and she's pouting! Adorable!"

" _Touch me again and I'll break all your fingers_ ," she threatened darkly and Lance's hand quickly dropped to his side.

"Not adorable! Not adorable!" he yelped, immediately backing off.

Mari huffed in annoyance and crossed her arms, looking around the room for better company. Allura was far away on the balcony, watching the Arusian partygoers and conversing with the Altean mice; Coran was speaking with several Arusiasns and applying nunvill to his cherished mustache; and Pidge and Shiro were nowhere to be found. Sighing, she headed towards the opened doors of the Castle, the lively sounds of the celebration growing fainter behind her with each step.

The night air was cool and calming, a refreshing atmosphere compared to the stuffy party she had just escaped. The moon hanging in the darkening night sky was absolutely gorgeous, emitting beams of silver light that caused the blue waters beneath the Castle to sparkle like a million gemstones. Climbing up onto a nearby boulder, Mari sat down and gazed up at the brilliant celestial object, captivated by its immense size and mystical glow. Arus's moon was definitely larger and brighter than Earth's, she noted, and she was tempted to sleep in the observation deck for the night just so she could look at it longer.

"Enjoying the view?"

Mari stiffened involuntarily as Shiro came to stand beside her. After their conversation on the first day of training, she had been avoiding him, afraid that he would try to continue their talk. And up until now, she had been doing a fairly good job of dodging him for the past few days. How did he find her so quickly?

"It's all right, I guess," she replied nonchalantly.

"It's just all right?" he smiled, raising a disbelieving eyebrow.

"Okay, it's really beautiful," she relented with a slight grin. "It's freaking _gorgeous_! Why can't Earth's moon look like this?"

"That sure would be something if it did."

"Yeah. The night sky out here is awesome. I can't wait to see stuff like this all the time." She paused before adding, "Don't be surprised if I start moving my stuff into the observation deck."

Shiro laughed and Mari chuckled a bit despite only half-joking about what she had said. Once their giggling had died down, the two were silent for a while as they took in view. After a few moments, Shiro spoke up. "Still not much of a party person, huh?"

"Nope. I see you're still not one for them either," she said, casting him a wry look and he shrugged.

"I just came out here to do a perimeter check," he explained lightly.

"Sure you did," she drawled out.

"What? I'm being serious!" he insisted with a slight laugh and Mari snickered.

"So did you find anything during your 'perimeter check'?"

"Other than you, no," he said. "But who knows when Zarkon could attack again? It's better to be safe than sorry."

"I guess."

"There you guys are."

Shiro and Mari turned to see Pidge approach them, a melancholy frown on his face. The reprogrammed Galra drone, Rover, hovered at his side and it beeped in greeting as they stopped in front of the siblings.

"Pidge, what's wrong?" Shiro asked, immediately picking up on the Green Paladin's distress.

"I…I need to talk to you," he replied hesitantly. Then glancing up at Mari he corrected himself, "Actually, I need to talk to _all_ of you." 

* * *

Once Pidge had assembled the majority of the team—minus Lance and Coran who were nowhere to be found in the general vicinity of the party—he relayed his decision to leave the group in favor of finding his family.

"Pidge, no," Shiro pleaded, his expression shocked.

"The download from the Galra ship was enough to at least get me in the right direction to start my search. I have a pod all ready to go," Pidge shook his head, refusing to be persuaded otherwise.

"You can't leave," Keith intervened, staring down the youngest paladin, and Pidge frowned at him in dismay.

"You can't tell me what to do!" he fired back and Keith's glare deepened.

"If you leave, we can't form Voltron. And that means we can't defend the universe against Zarkon. You're not the only one with a family," he said through gritted teeth and Pidge looked away guiltily. "All these Arusians have families. _Everyone_ in the universe has families."

"You don't need me to form Voltron," Pidge muttered. "Just have Mari pilot the Green Lion."

"The lions choose their pilots," Allura piped up sadly. "And the Green Lion chose _you_ , Pidge. It will not accept anyone else."

Pidge grimaced and looked to Mari with pleading eyes. "Can't you at least try?"

"I don't think it'll work, Pidge," Mari admitted. "I'm sorry, but Allura's right. You were chosen for a reason to pilot Green. And…I really don't think you should leave either. The universe needs you here."

His face immediately contorted in anger. "Oh, and my family doesn't need me?" he scoffed.

"No, that's not what I meant," Mari began but Pidge wouldn't let her continue.

"Finding them is my first priority!" he snapped. "I thought out of everyone you'd understand that."

"I do understand," Mari said, struggling to keep a cap on her increasing anger. "We both lost our family to Zarkon and this past year has been… _unbelievably_ painful because of that. But right now isn't the time to be splitting up. We have to stay focused on taking down Zarkon. That's our best chance at finding your father and brother."

"No," Pidge shook his head, a pained grimace on his face. "No, you really don't understand at all! Taking down Zarkon could take months, maybe even years, and I can't wait that long. If I leave now, I know I can find them. I won't stop until I do!"

"Pidge, _please_. You just have to be patient and wait a bit long—"

"Shut up!" he shouted, and Mari stiffened as he took a threatening step towards her. His fists and jaw were clenched in anger and his eyes glistened with tears. "You just sat around for a whole year, doing nothing to find out what happened to Shiro! You didn't do anything to try and find your family! Well, I'm not like you. I'm not waiting anymore. I'M NOT JUST GONNA SIT AROUND USELESSLY LIKE YOU WHILE MY FAMILY IS WHO-KNOWS-WHERE IN SPACE!"

Mari didn't register what she was doing until she felt the palm of her hand collide hard with Pidge's cheek, the impact causing his head to snap to the side and sending his glasses flying off his nose. The group was cast into shocked silence, the only sound the soft clatter of the spectacles falling onto the floor.

Blinking several times, Pidge's hand slowly pressed against his reddening cheek. He whipped his head around, fully intending to pounce on the older girl in retaliation, but he froze as he noticed the tears streaming down her face. Her whole body was shaking and she inhaled sharply before completely losing it.

"What was I supposed to do?!" she cried, her dark gray eyes flashing angrily. "Don't you think I wanted to find out about what really happened to the Kerberos crew? Don't you think I tried to figure it out? I begged and begged and _begged_ Iverson and Montgomery and all of those stupid hard-ass officials to tell me what happened to my brother until they banned me from campus! And I couldn't just hack and sneak my way back into the Garrison to steal information! I'm not a tech wiz like you, dammit!"

"Mariko! That is _enough_!" Shiro shouted, bringing his sister's rant to a halt. He had grabbed her by the arm and pulled her behind him, preventing her from getting any closer to Pidge. He held her in place by her shoulders, his eyes narrowed and unwavering as he stared her down.

"This new attitude of yours _needs_ to stop," he said lowly, almost threateningly. "We're a team now, Mari, a _family_. I won't have you lashing out at teammates."

Mari took a shaky breath and brushed some of the tears from her face before she glared back at him. "They're not my family," she muttered coldly. "And I'm not a part of this team. Not really, anyways. I can't form Voltron and I can't operate this dumb ship."

Her eyes flicked to Pidge and the boy stiffened beneath her watery gaze. "You were right, Pidge," she said quietly. "I really am useless."

Regret immediately flashed across his eyes and next to him Rover beeped unhappily. "Mari," he began. "I-I didn't mean—"

But she didn't let him finish. Roughly pulling away from her brother, she briskly turned away and bolted for the front door. The air of the Castle had suddenly become suffocating, everybody's stares of pity and her own encroaching memories beginning to choke her. She needed to get outside and just be left alone.

As her feet pounded against the Arusian soil, she didn't even feel the tremors of an explosion that came from within the Castle. 

* * *

_"_ _Why…why did it have to be Takashi, my poor baby? Dammit! Why?! Why, why, why, WHY?! Why did it have to be him?"_

 _"_ _It should have been Mari instead."_

Brushing the tears from her eyes, Mari pulled her legs tightly to her chest and sighed, trying to ignore the echoing voices inside of her head. She sat numbly atop of another boulder— this one nestled in the back of the Castle and overlooking the ocean—her only companion the brilliant moon that hung silently above her head in the darkened Arusian skies. It had been at least thirty minutes since her little fight with Pidge and she was vaguely surprised that no one had come to find her. Shiro had always let her blow off steam after fights in the past, but he never left her alone for this long. Maybe something was wrong? Or maybe her brother was fed up with dealing with her. The thought of Shiro ignoring her, throwing her aside in favor of the rest of the team, made Mari's eyes sting and she huffed angrily.

Geez…what was she doing? She was seventeen years old, for gosh sakes! She was supposed to be able to handle these sorts of situations like a mature adult. Yet she had slapped Pidge—an innocent kid—out of anger and had a breakdown in front of everyone. And now she was sulking all alone, just like the temperamental and closed off teenage that she really was. She hadn't even meant half of the things she'd said…

 _Troublesome little—_

"Shut up!" Mari hissed as her own thoughts. "Just shut up!"

The voices quieted as she glared up at the moon, and Mari sighed miserably as she listened to the faint crashing of waves against the cliff side. She couldn't hear the muffled din of Aruisans laughing and chatting away as they enjoyed the party, and even the calming hum of the Castle had stopped. There wasn't a single sound other than the rippling ocean below her.

…Since when had it gotten so quiet?

Suddenly, the ground vibrated slightly and Mari looked up in alarm just in time to see the Castle's exterior lights flicker to life—when had the Castle lost power? But instead of giving off their usual soft blue glow, they radiated a horribly familiar purple light. The Castle thrummed with a renewal of seemingly sinister energy, and a feeling of dread overcame her.

Something was definitely wrong.


	5. Chapter 5

**Authors note: Ha ha so yeah, this fanfic is definitely not gonna be done until after New Years. I've got a lot more editing to do for the next few chapters plus I'll be heading back to work in the next few days so...yeah (-_-) But I'll continue to upload when I can so hang in there! And Merry Christmas and Happy Holidays to everyone!

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

As soon as the dark purple particle barrier began to descend, Mari scrambled to get underneath it. She slammed into the outside of the castle-ship just as the protective energy dome collided with the ground, trapping her and the Castle underneath it. Her senses going on high alert, she steeled herself and activated her weapon, holding it at the ready as she began to cautiously make her way back to the front door of the building. Was this a Galran attack? Or maybe the Castle was just malfunctioning? She couldn't be sure, but she hoped it was the latter.

Finally making it to the entrance, Mari peeked around the corner before letting out a sigh of relief. There were no Galran sentries stationed anywhere in sight, thank goodness, and taking a deep breath, she prepared to head inside.

"Mari!"

She almost jumped at the sudden shout and she whipped her head around to see Keith and Allura trapped on the other side of the barrier. They had been banging their fists against the forcefield uselessly and immediately stopped as Mari approached them.

"Allura, what's going on? Where is everyone?" she asked, trying to keep the worry out of her voice. If the princess was outside the Castle, then who was operating it now? Surely it wasn't Coran, he'd never lock Allura out.

"The Galra destroyed the crystal that powers the ship," Allura began to explain hurriedly. "Lance was injured and is in need of medical assistance, but we couldn't put him in a cryo-pod because there's no power. Hunk and Coran departed not too long ago to retrieve another crystal from a nearby Balmera, and Keith and I just came back from the Arusian village because it was supposedly under attack."

Mari blinked at the princess in confusion, not registering half of what she had said. Keith rolled his eyes in mild annoyance and summed up, "The Galra attacked and they've split us up to thin the Castle's defenses."

"Well, where are Pidge and my brother?"

"Shiro should still be inside the Castle with Lance," Allura said. "As for Pidge…"

As if on cue, the Green Paladin's voice piped up over Keith and Allura's comms. "Keith, can you hear me?" he asked, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Pidge, is that you? Where are you?" Keith exclaimed.

"I'm inside the Castle," he replied. "Sendak has taken over and he's preparing for launch. He's got Lance and Shiro."

"Pidge, listen. If they've started the launch sequence, then we don't have much time before liftoff to stop it," Allura said.

"What do I have to do?"

"You have to get down to the main engine control panel and disconnect the primary turbine from the central energy chamber. If you can do that, Sendak will have to reset the whole system. That might give us enough time to find a way to stop them," the princess instructed.

"I'm on it," Pidge confirmed before his side of the line went quiet.

"Mari, change into your suit and turn on your comms," Allura ordered next, turning to the Earthling girl. "I'll give you instructions on how to shut off the particle barrier."

Mari couldn't hide her grimace and she looked at the princess hesitantly. "Allura, I'm terrible with technology. I don't think I—"

"You _must_ , Mariko," she insisted, refusing to take no for an answer. "The safety of Voltron depends on you and Pidge! I know you two can do it."

Allura was right. The team was at a huge disadvantage right now, and they needed her and Pidge to do this. The fate of the whole universe depended on them stopping Sendak from stealing the Castle. She had to do this.

A new surge of determination washing over her, Mari nodded in agreement. "Okay," she relented. "Just tell me what I have to do."

* * *

After quickly changing into her suit and putting on her helmet, Mari tapped into the comms just as Pidge stopped the ship from taking off.

"There's not much time before they get the ship running again," Allura was saying through the link. "Mari is already heading down to the particle barrier generator to shut it off. It's beneath the main hull."

"What? Mari's inside too?" Pidge inquired, a hint of dismay in his voice.

"Yeah, I'm inside. Do you have a problem with that?" Mari couldn't help but hiss back in reply.

"Quiznak…why'd it have to be _you_ of all people?" he grumbled.

"Look, you need all the help you can get right now, so just shut up and deal with it," she huffed in annoyance.

"Whatever," Pidge muttered. "I'll meet you at the generator."

"Fine."

"Fine."

As soon as his side went silent, Mari sighed in frustration, a pool of guilt settling in her stomach. She knew she should just apologize to Pidge. He hadn't done anything wrong wanting to help his family. And…he had been right about her: she really hadn't done anything to try and find out what happened to Shiro.

Being pulled from the Garrison—her dreams vanishing in an instant right before her very eyes—had more than crushed her. For the first few weeks she refused to even leave her room, she was so tired and unmotivated all the time. She hadn't even thought about Shiro and his disappearance until her parents dragged her to his funeral. And her mother had said those awful things…

 _"_ _It should have been Mari instead."_

Despite the harsh meaning behind her own mother's words, hearing that had gotten Mari to move again. She couldn't believe he was dead; she just wouldn't accept it. She pestered the Garrison officials until they banned her from campus. But thinking about it now, she wished she had kept going back until they threatened to arrest her. At least then she could say she really did try her hardest to find Shiro.

But no; she had given up her search too quickly. Still, she had never given up on her brother. There was no way he was dead. He couldn't be, not someone as strong and influential as him. In denial and unsure of what to do with herself, Mari had distanced herself from her family and friends, distracting herself by going to races and taking long drives and hikes through the deserts that lasted for hours and hours.

Then she had found the Blue Lion's cave. And then she had met Keith. And being with him had felt… _right_ , in a way. She felt like she needed to stick with him, to stay by his side and help him decode the lion markings no matter how many times he tried to push her away. Mari supposed that in this way she had helped to find Shiro, but she hadn't been consciously looking for him.

She couldn't help but wonder what would have happened if she hadn't stayed with Keith at all, if she had let him block her out. Mari was sure Keith would've been able to figure out the carvings himself eventually. So why…Why was she here? The Blue Lion's energy had reached out to her for some reason, persuaded her to work with Keith. She was supposed to be here with everyone. She was a part of this team, this _family_ full of such wonderfully diverse people. They all had their assigned roles to play in this war against the Galra Empire. So what was hers?

Several squeaking sounds brought Mari back to reality, and she started as the four space mice climbed up onto her shoulder. They cheeped in greeting and bounced up and down excitedly as they gestured for her to continue moving down the hall.

"Mari, I've lost contact with Pidge," Allura piped up over the comms. "But I've managed to contact the mice for help. They'll provide you with assistance in any way that they can."

 _How much help are four little mice gonna be against armed Galra soldiers?_ Mari thought dryly to herself. "Okay…I'm almost to the generator. I'll try to contact him." She switched over to her link with Pidge before continuing, "Pidge? Pidge are you there? What's your status?"

There was static on his end for a moment, before ragged breathing cut through the white noise.

"I'm…here," Pidge panted. "The generator's being guarded by sentries and they chased me way off track. I'm circling back to the main engine control room to buy us more time. You're gonna have to shut down the barrier yourself."

"Okay," Mari nodded to herself. She hesitated. "Pidge?"

"What?"

"I…I'm sorry that I hit you. And I'm sorry for yelling at you," she apologized quietly, regretfully. "I didn't mean to. I was just…"

Pidge was silent for a good long minute, and for a moment she thought he had switched off his comm. But then he sighed and said, "No, you…you don't have to apologize, Mari. _I'm_ sorry. I shouldn't have said all of that stuff to you. You had every right to hit me or whatever."

Mari was quiet and Pidge took her silence as a cue to continue. "How about we settle on us both being in the wrong here. Both of us were just being stupid and acting without thinking. Does that work?"

"Yeah," Mari smiled to herself and the mice squeaked happily. "Yeah, that works."

"Good," he seemed to sigh in relief. "Okay, I gotta stop this guy from rebooting the main engine. You shut off the barrier and then we'll meet up outside of the bridge. Let's take these guys down!"

* * *

There was only one Galran sentry defending the particle barrier generator, the android dutifully pacing up and down the catwalk with its blaster held at the ready. Ducking back behind the door frame, Mari turned to the space mice.

"Okay you guys," she whispered. "There's only one guard. Shouldn't be too hard to take him down."

Chulatt, the smallest mouse, squeaked in opposition and Mari frowned. "What? You don't think I can take down one sentry?"

He shook his head fervently and made a tiny blaster with his paws, pretending to shoot Chuchule. Said pink mouse let out a gasping cheep as the invisible laser hit its mark, and he fell over dead. Chulatt gestured to the 'deceased' mouse before pointing to Mari knowingly.

"I'm not gonna get shot," she rolled her eyes, and all four mice gave her worried looks. Although she hated to admit it, they did have a point. Her suit wasn't exactly armor and a laser blast would easily be able to penetrate the fabric. Plus she had no shield.

"Okay, fine," she relented. "You distract that thing and I'll attack it from behind. Does that sound like a plan?"

They squeaked in agreement before scurrying up the wall and disappearing into the air vent. Peeking around the doorframe again, Mari watched as the mice emerged from the shaft in the ceiling and nimbly hopped onto the top of one of the generators emitting purple bolts of lighting. They waited several seconds for the sentry to pass underneath them, its back turned to the doorway, before they jumped down on top of it.

The robot stumbled as the mice crawled all over it, biting it and banging on its metal limbs. It frantically tried to brush the vermin off, not even noticing when Mari charged from behind. With the blade on her weapon released, she cut through the android like butter, slicing off its blaster-wielding arm before impaling it in the chest. The gaping hole in the robot's torso sparked and smoked dangerously and she quickly flung the thing off of her staff, sending it over the side of the catwalk. It exploded as soon as it made contact with the lower part of an energy arc and Mari and the mice took several steps back to avoid inhaling the smoke from the detonation.

"Nice! Great work guys," she grinned and the mice chirped in victory as they mounted her shoulders once more. They approached the nearby panel that controlled the particle barrier generator, and Mari stared at the glowing Altean symbols hesitantly. "Um…"

Chulatt squeaked encouragingly and gestured to the center icon, a slowly rotating circle that sat next to a symbol representing the Castle of Lions. Mari lifted one hand, ready to press it and end this nightmare of a mission, when the crackle of electricity followed by Shiro's agony-filled screams suddenly rang out over the room's loudspeakers.

"Takashi?!" Mari shouted as pure terror and panic began to flood her system, and a shiver involuntarily ran down her spine as Sendak's chilling laughter came through the speakers.

"Step away from that control panel, pathetic human girl," he growled, his voice deep and threatening. "Turn yourself over to me immediately or I _will_ kill your precious teammates right here and right now, starting with your leader."


	6. Chapter 6

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender! 

* * *

"Mari…don't," Shiro pleaded, his voice sounding heartbreakingly weak over the comms. "Don't listen to him. You have turn off—"

He was cut off as more ear-splitting shrieks of pain pierced the air and Sendak chuckled darkly. "Time is running out, little girl," the Galran commander taunted. "I suggest you make your decision in the next few ticks."

Mari froze, her heart beating rapidly as one finger hovered shakily over the button that would lower the particle barrier. The mice squeaked in her ears, jumping up and down on her shoulders fretfully, but she barely heard them as a flurry of panicked thoughts rushed through her mind.

She knew she had to press that button. She _had_ to! The fate of the universe depended on Voltron; she couldn't just give up and let Sendak take the lions. But if she resisted and shut off the barrier, not only would Lance be killed, but Shiro would die for real this time. And their deaths would be all her fault.

Two lives given up to save countless of others…She couldn't do it. She _wouldn't_ do it. Although Lance could be incredibly irritating at times, he really wasn't all that bad of a guy. He was kind and selfless (usually) and he was surprisingly sensitive. And Shiro…she had already lost him once; there was no way she was going to risk losing him for good this time. No, there had to be a way out of this.

 _Patience yields focus._

Taking a deep breath, Mari regained some of her composure and began to sort out her options. Sendak could easily be bluffing about his threat to kill off Shiro and Lance, but it seemed unlikely. He seemed like the type that relished the suffering of others; she had no doubt that he'd slaughter the paladins on the spot if she lowered the barrier. Figuring out the best course of action was something she couldn't do alone, not when she had seconds left to decide. The team, her new family, needed her and she needed them now more than ever. And the only one currently available to lend assistance was…

"Pidge." Mari had barely whispered it, but the Green Paladin had managed to hear her somehow.

"What is it?" he replied, his voice just as quiet. "I'm almost to the bridge. Did you get the barrier lowered?"

"Not yet," she admitted. "Sendak's threatening to kill Takashi and Lance if I shut it off. I need you to distract him, get him away from them."

"I'm on it. Get ready to lower the barrier in twenty seconds."

Taking another steadying breath, Mari began to silently count down, her hand never wavering over the control panel. Over the loudspeakers, Sendak growled lowly, indicating his ever increasing frustration.

"Tick tock human," he snarled. "You're running out of time and my patience is thinning."

When she remained unyielding, the faint sound of electricity crackling filled the air as Sendak prepared to deliver another torturous blow to Shiro. The mice squeaked and quivered fretfully on Mari's shoulder and she bit her lip nervously, her fingers inching closer and closer to the shut off button as she neared the end of her countdown.

 _…16…17…18…19…_

"Foolish girl," Sendak chuckled darkly. "You really are— _YOU!_ "

There were several scuffling noises on his end followed by Pidge's shout of " _Now!_ "

Fast as lighting, Mari slammed her hand against the control panel and there was a slight whine as the particle barrier generator shut off around her. The mice began to squeak in success but they were cut off as Mari bolted out of the room and headed towards the bridge. It wasn't time to celebrate just yet; she still had to help Pidge deal with Sendak.

Meeting up with Allura and Keith on her way, the trio (along with the mice) hurried to help the youngest paladin. As they approached the central control room and the sounds of a struggle became increasingly louder, Mari drew her spear and Keith his sword. They both held their weapons at the ready as they surged forward, but they came to an abrupt halt as they reached the entrance of the bridge. Sendak was waiting for them, his lips curled into a victorious snarl as he gripped Pidge in his claw-like prosthetic arm.

"Stand back!" he warned the newcomers, tightening his grip on the Green Paladin and causing the human boy to cry out in pain.

"It's over, Sendak!" Allura snapped, her regal tone radiating anger and authority. "You've lost. Let her go this instant!"

… _Her_?

Mari blinked at the princess for a moment, wondering if she had heard her correctly. Had…had Allura addressed Pidge as a 'her'? Did that mean…Pidge was a girl? Thinking about it now, she could vaguely remember that the one time Shiro had talked about his crew's family, he had shared that Matt had a little sister too. She couldn't recall him ever mentioning that the Holts had another son besides Matt. Holy crow, she _knew_ something had felt off about Pidge!

But before she could dwell on the matter any longer, a laser beam hit Sendak in the back, and he stumbled forward from the resulting blast, releasing Pidge in the process. Lance had regained consciousness long enough to shoot the Galran commander, but that action alone had completely drained him as he sat back limply while the others pounced on Sendak.

Despite his handcuffed wrists and weakened state, Shiro charged the Galra, only to be pushed back by the clawed prosthetic. But Keith quickly followed up with several attacks of his own, managing to land a few good blows before Sendak grabbed him with his massive metal limb and threw the Red Paladin across the room, the purple energy binding his arm to his shoulder now stretched out and exposed. And before he could retract his appendage, Pidge promptly summoned her bayard and severed the connection between Sendak and his arm.

The Galra roared in absolute fury and stomped towards the Green Paladin who was scrambling to get her shield up. Sendak kicked it uselessly and Pidge stumbled before firing her bayard at the commander's ankle. The hook wrapped around his leg tightly and electrical shocks were sent throughout his body, causing him to convulse and shriek in pain. Keith hurried to his feet and raised his sword to strike the impaired enemy, but despite the voltage coursing through his body Sendak stopped the attack, gripping the blade with his remaining hand and straining to pull it away from the Red Paladin. His left side was completely exposed now and Mari jumped at the opportunity.

Leaping up, she brought her staff back before swinging it at full force at Sendak's head. There was a dull crack upon impact, his false eye shattering as the metal weapon collided hard with his face, and the Galra commander let out his loudest scream yet. He stumbled back, disoriented as he clutched and clawed at his broken and bleeding face. In one swift and final move, Mari swept Sendak out from under his feet and he fell onto his back, the air being forced out of his lungs.

Meanwhile, Allura had hurried to the central control panel and had been putting in several commands during the fight. And now that Sendak was right where she wanted him, she didn't even hesitate to activate the forcefield that trapped him and his crystal in the center of the room. 

* * *

Sendak was moved to a prisoner cryo-pod in the lower levels of the ship and the Galran crystal was transferred to the Green Lion hanger so Pidge could fiddle around with it later (she needed something to distract herself after Rover's untimely demise). Hunk and Coran returned not long after with a new crystal from the Balmera, and as soon as it was in place, Lance was set up in a regular healing pod.

"Mari? I just wanted to say thanks for all your help. I don't think I could've done this all on my own," Pidge said while Allura programmed Lance's pod. Then grinning sheepishly she added, "I guess it was a good thing that we ticked each other off, huh?"

"Heh, yeah," Mari smiled. "I guess so."

"Are…Are we all good now?" Pidge asked hesitantly. "You and me, I mean?"

"Yeah. We're all good. Us little sisters have to stick together after all," Mari chuckled and Pidge's smile faltered.

"S-sisters?" she hissed. "I-I don't know what you're—"

"It's okay, Pidge," Mari whispered, pulling the Green Paladin to the side. "I won't tell anyone, I swear."

Pidge sighed and a relieved smile crossed her lips. "Thanks," she said. "But how did you figure it out?"

"Before the Kerberos Mission, Takashi told me a bit about your family."

"Ah. Figures."

"That and Allura called you 'her' earlier…"

"What? She knows too?"

"I guess so. But I'm sure she won't tell anyone," Mari said but Pidge didn't look convinced in the slightest.

"Have you two made up?"

The girls jumped at Shiro's sudden intervention and they turned to give him reassuring nods. He looked exhausted, completely worn out from his fight with Sendak and from the torture that had been inflicted upon him.

"We can't thank you enough for all you two did," he said. Then turning to the youngest paladin he continued, "I can't help but feel that you were meant to be a part of our team, Pidge. But I understand if you still want to leave."

Pidge hesitated, glancing at Mari for a moment. The older girl simply shrugged but was smiling slightly nonetheless. Taking a deep breath to steady herself, Pidge said, "Dad used to tell me how close he was to his crew members. They were like family. Now I understand what he was talking about. I'm staying with you guys. Let's stop Zarkon for all of our families." 

* * *

While Lance healed in his pod, everyone went their separate ways, taking the rest of the day to recover from their recent fight. Having been up all night, most of the team retired to their bedrooms to sleep, except for Shiro, who was kept awake by nagging worries despite his fatigue.

He was concerned about Lance's recovery of course—the poor kid had almost died on them. Although everything had worked out in the end and Lance was going to be perfectly fine, Shiro couldn't help but feel guilty about the whole situation. He should've been more alert, done routine perimeter checks, maybe even persuade Allura to shut the front entrance. Then maybe Sendak's bomb wouldn't have snuck inside, blown up the crystal, and injured Lance.

Then there was the fact that said Galra commander was now an inhabitant of their new abode. Sendak was locked away in the depths of the castle, frozen and completely unable to escape unless he had outside help, but his mere presence on the Castle of Lions unnerved Shiro to no end. He was afraid of waking up one day to find the beastly commander looming over his bed, freed and ready to slit his throat. The thought alone send a shiver down Shiro's spine and he quickly shook the thought from his head.

And then there was Mari, who seemed to be straying further and further away from him. She was constantly avoiding him nowadays, dodging his questions about the past or changing the subject. A year ago she was like an open book to him, easy to read and ready to share her thoughts. But now she was so much more defensive and secretive, and from the way she had lashed out at Pidge, it was obvious that she was quicker to anger as well. Yes, his little sister had some aggressive tendencies, but she never physically acted without thinking, not unless something had truly and deeply upset her. And her tears were an indication that there really was something bothering her.

Shiro needed to know what happened to Mari while he was gone. He wouldn't let the subject go, not when keeping it all in was just going to cause her more and more pain. His resolve to confront her stronger than ever, he marched down to her bedroom only to find it completely empty. Shiro groaned quietly; Mari was so sneaky these days as well.

Let's see…Where else could she be?

Shiro thought about it carefully for a moment. The kitchen and the training deck momentarily crossed his mind, until he remembered her keen interest in the observation deck. With a new surge of determination coursing through him, he walked down a series of corridors before approaching his sister's favorite room in the castle.

The door slid open silently for him and he stepped into the darkened area. The large window on the far end of the room had been tinted black, blocking out the Arusian sun's bright morning rays. And sprawled out on the middle of the floor, dozing soundly on top of a comfy layer of blankets and pillows, was not only Mari, but Pidge, Hunk, and even Keith.

Shiro simply stared at the teens in surprise; he hadn't been expecting all of them to be in here, and sleeping no less. The whole scene seemed like something Lance would enjoy, and Shiro could already imagine the Blue Paladin pouting and whining once he learned that the team had had a slumber party without him. He smiled at the thought tiredly before quietly making his way towards the group and gingerly laying down next to his sister.

Mari's face scrunched up at the slight movement of the blankets and Shiro waited with baited breath for her to wake up. She was always cranky when she woke up too early, as he had learned over the many, many years of having to drag her out of bed to go to school. But when her expression returned to normal and she showed no signs of getting up, Shiro relaxed, staring at her sadly.

She looked so peaceful and small curled up in the downy Altean blankets. It reminded him of their younger days when they'd snuggle in front of the fireplace during the winter or when Mari would crawl into his bed after having a nightmare. What he wouldn't give to go back to those days, back to when he wasn't physically, emotionally, and mentally scarred. Back to when she relied on him wholeheartedly and told him everything.

Shiro could feel himself gradually giving over to sleep, and he sighed to himself. "We'll try talking tomorrow," he murmured almost inaudibly and he kissed Mari's forehead lightly before falling into a dreamless sleep.


	7. Chapter 7

**Author's note: Sorry updates are going so slowly. I've had to add, edit, and rewrite a lot of things in this next chunk of the story, and I've been busy with school work from this new semester. So, yeah. It's been taking me a while to write and produce a chapter that I'm content with, but I promise to continue uploading when I can.

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

The next morning, Lance emerged from the healing pod and while he rejuvenated his strength over a bowl of food goo, the others caught him up on Sendak's attack.

"You'd be Sendak's prisoner right now if not for Pidge and Mari," Allura said, wrapping up the explanation.

"Well, you wouldn't have survived the explosion if Hunk and Coran hadn't gotten a new crystal," Pidge pointed out.

"Wow," Lance smiled gratefully. "Thanks, everybody." Then turning to Keith he said, "Sounds like the mice did more than you, though."

"I punched Sendak!" the Red Paladin insisted in annoyance, and Lance gave him a sour look.

"Yeah, apparently after I emerged from a coma and shot his arm off."

"We had a bonding moment! I cradled you in my arms!"

"Nope. Don't remember, didn't happen," Lance said, grinning and shaking his head before changing the subject. "So, what happened to Sendak?"

"He's frozen in a cryo-pod. We're keeping him here in the Castle," Allura replied.

"Are you sure that's a good idea?" Lance asked, frowning hesitantly.

"He's too dangerous to be set free," she said. "Besides, we might be able to get some information about Zarkon from him."

"Well, now that lover boy here has been all caught up, what do we do now?" Mari piped up, already becoming restless and bored by the conversation.

"The Arusian village took quite a bit of damage from Sendak's fires," Allura said. "We shall take the day to help them with any repairs that their village requires."

"Okay, but then we have to get back to the Balmera and save Shay and her people," Hunk complied somewhat anxiously.

"Wow! You are really hung up on this lady!" Lance mused.

"Like you're one to talk," Mari grumbled but he ignored her comment.

"No, it's not like that," Hunk promised. "Look, guys, when you see how Zarkon has treated these people and destroyed their home... they've been under his thumb for so long, they don't know what it is to be free. It's up to us to set this right. This is what being a paladin of Voltron is all about. It's time to man up."

"Then let's get moving," Shiro decided. "Everyone suit up and get ready to head out to the Arusian village."

"Wait—I have something to say first," Pidge intervened, stopping the group before they could leave the dining hall. "I need to come clean, and I'm afraid this may change the way you all think about me. Just so there are no secrets between us anymore, I can't 'man up'. I'm a girl. I-I mean, I can 'man up' because that's just a figure of speech. I don't have to actually be a man to 'man up'. I just have to be tough. But what I'm saying—"

"Wha...?! You're a girl?!" Lance shrilled, his jaw dropping in utter shock. "How?!"

"I've known for some time, but I'm glad you've shared it with everyone," Allura admitted.

"Yeah, I figured," Hunk added.

"Oh, yeah, me too," Keith noted casually.

"You already knew that I knew," Mari beamed.

"Wait, we were supposed to think you were a boy?" Coran asked, slightly confused.

"Pidge, owning who you are is going to make you a better paladin," Shiro smiled, clearly glad that their resident tech wiz had shared her secret with everyone.

"It's good to get that off my chest," Pidge admitted, sighing in relief. "Now, let's hurry up and help the Arusians so we can launch this castle-ship!"

"Wait, what? Pidge is a girl and the castle is a ship?" Lance gaped in disbelief as the others hurried out of the dinning hall. "How long have I been out?"

* * *

The damage that Sendak's fires had inflicted upon the Arusian village was a lot more serious than the paladins and the rest of the team had expected. Whole huts had been mercilessly burned to the ground; the water tower had fallen over; roofs had collapsed; there were holes in various building walls; shards of broken pots, plates, and other ceramics were scattered all over the ground, mixing with the powdery ash that covered the walkways. Luckily, none of the Arusians had perished in the fires and only a handful of them had minor injuries.

Still, their village was in a terrible state and it was all because of Voltron's presence on the planet; the least the team could do was lend the Arusians a hand in repairing the damage. So, with that being said, Pidge and Hunk prepared to reinstall the water tower; Shiro, Lance, and Keith went to work on hut repairs; and Coran, Allura, and Mari tended to the injured and began to help clean up the debris and ash littering the paths, all with the Arusian's help of course.

Mari did her best to steer clear of Shiro. They hadn't really talked since the night of the party, but from the concerned looks he kept throwing her way, she knew some sort of brotherly lecture was lingering over her head. And she knew exactly what it was going to be about: the past, what had happened in his one-year absence, etc., etc. It was the same damn topic over and over and over again, and she wished he'd just drop it already. She had already told him what had happened. Why didn't he understand that there was nothing else he needed to know? She tsked in annoyance before pulling her gaze away from Shiro and immersing herself in angrily sweeping away a pile of ashes.

"You're just making a bigger mess, you know."

Mari scowled but began to sweep gentler and with more precision. "Did you need something?" she huffed, glancing up at Keith briefly. He was carrying another broom, and dirt was smeared across various sections of his armor.

"Shiro and Lance are taking a break and I thought you could use the help."

"I don't need your help," Mari began to insist but Keith ignored her, already starting to create another pile of sooty debris with his broom. Sighing at his stubbornness, she rolled her eyes and helped him clean up the rest of the surrounding path in awkward silence.

"So how are hut repairs going?" she asked in a half-hearted attempt to make conversation.

"They're fine."

"Is Lance actually helping you guys or is he just talking your ears off?"

"Both," Keith grimaced.

"Well…at least he makes the job interesting," Mari shrugged, giving him a mildly sympathetic look.

"More like annoying," he muttered and she couldn't help but crack a grin.

"Mari-ko! Mari-ko!"

The duo looked up in surprise to see Klaizap and an elderly female Arusian hurrying towards them. The alien pair quickly skidded to a halt, nearly stumbling into the newly swept pile of dust and rubble that sat on the ground in between the humans, before straightening and looking up at the female Earthling with worried expressions.

"What's up, Klaizap?" Mari asked, kneeling down so she'd be at eye level with the small warrior.

"It is one of our elders," Klaizap said, gesturing to the older Arusian. "She is very distressed. Her hut was damaged in the fires and one of her relics is now stuck,"

"Where is it stuck?" Mari frowned slightly.

"I will show you," the elderly Arusian spoke up in a raspy but chipper voice. And before she could protest, the old woman firmly took Mari by the hand and led her towards a hut that sat on the edge of the cliffs. Moving around the small abode, they could see that the entire back half of the hut had collapsed, the remaining walls charred and cracked. A broken shelf along with various damaged vases sat at the brink of the rubble, mere feet away from the drop-off.

"It rolled over the edge and is stuck down there." The old Arusian pointed down the steep slope and Mari and Keith cautiously peered down the cliff side. About half way down, a rather plain looking glass ball sat on a narrow rock ledge.

"Our arms are too short to reach it," Klaizap said. "But surely you or one of the paladins could reach it, Mari-ko."

"That thing is too far down for us to just grab it," Keith said. "I think Pidge and Hunk have some rope. Let me just get it and—"

"No, it's fine. I can just get this thing myself," Mari cut him off quickly, and before he could stop her, she began to crawl down the cliff face.

"What are you doing?" Keith hissed, glaring down at her angrily. "Are you stupid?"

"Relax, I'll be fine," she grumbled, carefully maneuvering her hands and feet as she located stable ledges to grab and put her weight on. "The cliff's not even that steep. I can do this by myself, easy-peasy."

"Shiro's not gonna like it if you—"

"I don't care," she snapped back. "I'm not a baby anymore, I don't need his help. I know I can do this without any problems. So stop being such a worry-wart, okay hothead?"

Keith scowled in disapproval but said nothing, watching silently as she slowly inched along the side of the cliff. Finally he sighed and said, "You really need to talk to Shiro."

"And you really need to mind your own business," she was quick to retaliate and Keith's eye twitched in annoyance.

"I'm being serious."

"So am I."

"He's your brother. You can't just keep avoiding him."

Mari halted in her task and frowned up at him suspiciously. "You're irritatingly nosy today, you know that? Why do you suddenly care so much, huh?"

"Shiro's my friend. Why wouldn't I care that his stupid little sister is potentially causing him more trouble?" Keith rolled his eyes.

His words made her blood run cold. Was that how Keith saw her then? As Shiro's stupid little sister that always caused her brother trouble? Did the rest of the team see her that way too? Well, maybe not Pidge, but as for the others…A wave of hurt washed over her and Mari bit her lip, her grip on the rocks tightening as she struggled to keep herself balanced.

"Well," she said lowly, averting her gaze away from him. "I don't think you of all people should be giving me familial advice when you don't have any family yourself."

Mari knew she shouldn't have said it, but it was too late as her words hung in the air. Glancing up again, she couldn't help but flinch at the utterly hostile glare Keith was giving her, a mixture of pain and rage flaring in his dark and narrowed eyes. She had touched upon a sensitive topic, that's for sure, and his reaction was almost frightening. But Mari didn't care anymore: he had hurt her so she had hurt him in return. It was only fair, right?

No, it wasn't fair. She was being intentionally mean while Keith had just been teasing. The instant regret felt like a punch to the gut, and her breath hitched as tears pricked the corners of her eyes. Holy crow, what was going on with her? Why was she lashing out at people when they did nothing wrong? Why was she acting so closed off? And why…why, why, _why_ did everything hurt so, _so_ much when she was around Shiro now? She wanted to scream at him, kick, and punch him. But at the same time she desperately wanted him to hold her and let her cry and cry, just like when they were little. She was so confused and conflicted, not knowing what to do or say, not knowing how to make all the suffering go away. It felt like she was losing her mind, like she was being broken from the inside out.

Unable to swipe at the building tears, Mari cast her gaze downwards, too ashamed to look at Keith any longer and suddenly feeling sick. She swallowed back the bile that was rising in her throat and took several calming breaths before she managed weakly, "Keith, I-I'm sorry. I-I didn't mean to…"

"The Red Paladin has left, Mari-ko," Klaizap piped up, peeking over the edge with saddened eyes. "He seemed most angry."

Great. First Pidge and now Keith. God, she really was such a bothersome bitch to everyone, wasn't she?

Mari felt the warm tears threatening to overflow, and she wanted to cry so, so badly. But she bit her lip roughly in angry determination and shook the idea from her head; this wasn't the time for self pity. No, she had to focus on the task at hand and that was helping the Arusians. She would apologize to Keith later…and then maybe crying could come later, when she was alone in the privacy of her room.

So, steeling herself, Mari continued to clamber down the rocky surface until the lost relic was right next to her. Clinging to her current hand and foot-holds, she reached out and swiftly plucked the item from the ledge. The orb was smooth and light in weight, no bigger than a baseball as it fit easily in her hand. With how much it resembled glass, she was surprised it had survived the fall over the cliff's edge; maybe it was made out of some sort of durable alien crystal?

Looking back up, she held up the ball for the two Arusians to see. "I've got it!"

"Huzzah!" Klaizap cheered in victory.

"Huzzah!" the elder of the two beamed in relief.

"Toss it to us so you may climb back up, Mari-ko!" Klaizap instructed.

Grasping the orb firmly in one hand, Mari brought back her arm and prepared to throw it to the small warrior. "Okay, here it comes!"

But before she could release the object, it began to glow and emit a gentle warmth in her palm. Tiny sparks began to flit around inside the glassy ball and a tingling sensation ran up her arm, spreading throughout her body. And then all at once she was bombarded by a sea of deafening sounds—thousands of people talking, laughing, crying, and screaming all at once—that mingled with a series of familiar images that flashed before her eyes much to quickly. Her head felt like it was going to split open, and Mari was in too much pain to scream or move.

Suddenly the flashing images and intense noise stopped. The orb had slipped out of her grasp, falling and disappearing into a patch of foliage down below. Mari was quickly brought back to reality, her whole body numb and her breath coming in shallow pants. Her mind felt fuzzy and her head throbbed as she tried to register just what the hell had happened to her. She didn't even realize it when she lost her footing on the ledge she was tiptoeing on, and it was only for a moment that she felt nothing but air rushing past her. Then her body slammed against the solid ground with a sickening thud and everything went black.


	8. Chapter 8

**Author's note: So, good news: I am completely done with this story! I finally have the remaining chapters written out (there are 5 more left) and I'll try to post one a day. Then hopefully by the end of the week I'll be able to start the third story featuring Mari and the rest of Team Voltron! Yay! Also, who else is hyped for Season 5? I can't wait to see it, especially since I'll be back home on break when it comes out! xD

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

Sitting in the cool shade of a nearby tree, Shiro sipped from his water pouch quietly as he watched Pidge and Hunk's newest mechanism straighten the Arusian's water tower. They were taking a short break for lunch, with Hunk and Coran having returned to the Castle in the Yellow Lion to prepare a picnic of sorts, leaving him, Allura, Lance, and Pidge to wait with the other Arusians. Shiro hadn't seen Keith and Mari for a while, but he was sure that they were fine. The repairs had been going well so far, much to his relief; the village was being cleaned up quite nicely, and they'd probably be done in the next hour or so.

"Do you know if there's any rope around here?"

Shiro raised a quizzical eyebrow as Keith suddenly approached, taking note of his angry gait and sour demeanor.

"Rope?" he asked. "What do you need rope for?"

"Mari needs it," Keith replied through gritted teeth. "Your sister's a piece of work, you know that?"

Sighing, Shiro lowered his drink. "What did she do now?"

"She's just…so stubborn!" Keith huffed exasperatedly.

"Tell me about it."

"And she can be so stupid too, speaking and acting without thinking!"

"Hm…Sounds like someone else I know," the Black Paladin smiled wryly at him and Keith just scowled, averting his gaze in mild embarrassment.

"I'm nothing like her," he mumbled and Shiro chuckled. "And she's nothing like what you told me."

"Yeah, well," Shiro shrugged tiredly. "She's wasn't like this a year ago. She's definitely changed."

 _And not in a good way, it seems_ , he added bitterly to himself, and his determination to talk to her immediately flared. They were on break now anyways; it was the perfect time to find her and—

Klaizap's panicked shouts suddenly cut through his thoughts, and the nearby Arusians startled as their bravest warrior stumbled into view before them. Pure fear was written all over the little alien's face as he looked around desperately and he flung himself at the nearest paladin, Lance.

"Whoa! What's wrong, little guy?" Lance asked, taken aback as Klaizap clung onto the human's arm.

"It is Mari-ko!" Klaizap shrilled. "She fell down the cliff! She is not moving!"

Shiro's blood ran cold and his heart nearly stopped. Mari had fallen of the cliffs? How? And she wasn't moving. She was hurt—or worse. Despite the millions of questions that were arising in his head, the sheer terror that began to flood his system propelled Shiro onto his feet and he hurried towards Klaizap.

"Show me!" he couldn't help but shout, unable to mask the fear in his voice. "Quickly!"

With a fretful Klaizap leading the way, the paladins and Allura bolted towards the cliffs. They neared a damaged hut and found an elderly Arusian woman peeking over the edge, murmuring incomprehensibly and nervously wringing her hands. She looked up in surprise upon their approach and began to frantically point down the cliff face.

"She is down there!" she exclaimed, tears beginning to pool in her round and innocent eyes. "She is unmoving!"

Everyone peered down the rocky slope to see Mari laying flat on her back on the ground below. Her eyes were shut and, as the Arusians had said, she was unmoving.

"Oh quiznak…" Lance hissed, cringing at the sight. "Are we gonna have to air lift her out of here?"

"No, there's too much foliage down below to do that," Shiro shook his head, his heart racing as he frantically tried to piece together a plan of action. "We're going to have to go down there and carry her to an open space. Lance, head back to the main village and find as much rope as you can," he ordered. Then pointing a ways off to his right he added, "Pidge, take the Green Lion and wait for us in that field."

"Got it," she nodded in confirmation.

"Yes sir!" Lance saluted before he and Pidge ran off to complete their tasks. Once they were gone, Allura activated her earring comms.

"Coran, are you and Hunk still at the Castle?" she asked.

"Yes, princess," he confirmed. "Hunk and I were just about to head back—"

"Stay there," she ordered. "Mari's been injured and I need you to prepare a healing pod."

"Right away princess!"

"Wait, what?" Hunk's voice piped up over the comms. "Mari's been what?"

"She's hurt, Hunk," Allura replied grimly. "She's fallen off the cliffs."

" _What_?" Hunk practically squeaked before delving into panic mode. "Oh no! H-Holy crow, uh…uh…how bad does it look? Is there blood? Broken bones? Is she breathing? Please tell me she's breathing!"

"We don't know yet, Hunk," Shiro said, his voice wavering slightly and his eyes never leaving the body that was sprawled out across the cliff floor. "We're going down to check on her right now."

Allura's brow furrowed and she spun on her heel to glare at the two Arusians, causing them to flinch slightly. "How did this happen?" she demanded, struggling to keep the anger from her voice and remain calm.

"Mari-ko was retrieving the elder's relic from the cliff ledge," Klaizap explained. "But she lost her footing and fell."

Keith stiffened, a mixture of anger and guilt etched in his features, and Shiro cast him an incredulous look.

" _This_ is what she was doing?" he asked and the Red Paladin gave him a solemn nod.

"And you did nothing to stop her?" Allura turned on him now, frowning angrily. "You shouldn't have let her—"

"I did try!" Keith snapped, causing the princess to bristle at being so rudely interrupted. "But she was already climbing down before I could stop her. That's why I left, so I could get a rope or something to pull her back up."

"Keith, why didn't you just tell me?" Shiro inquired, obviously distraught. "I could've stopped her or just gone down to get this relic myself."

After a moment of hesitation, Keith said quietly, "She made it very clear that she didn't want help, not from me, not from anyone…especially not from you."

Those words were like a blow to the gut, as if Mari herself had just mercilessly kicked him in the stomach. She didn't want his help? Since when was she too proud to ask anyone, especially her big brother, for help? Sure she usually insisted upon doing things herself, but not when it came to doing such risky tasks. No, this went beyond her simply being too proud to ask for assistance; she was purposefully distancing herself and it was starting to tear her apart. Mari was becoming dangerously reckless and secretive and mean, pushing everyone away and causing her to neglect her own safety.

And for the love of God, Shiro just couldn't figure out why! Why was Mari doing all of this? It was infuriating not knowing, and this accident had crossed the line. Shiro was putting his foot down, once and for all. He was going to have a heart-to-heart chat with his sister whether she liked it or not.

If she made it out of this alive anyways.

When Lance finally returned with a long, thick rope, Shiro instructed Allura and Keith to hold onto one end and be ready to catch him if he somehow slipped. Then he quickly but carefully tied the other end around his waist before beginning his descent.

The cliff face wasn't too steep and it had plenty of ledges to grab, much to Shiro's relief, and he crawled down the rocky slope at an efficient pace. In seemingly no time at all, his feet reconnected with solid ground and he scrambled to untie the rope around him before kneeling next to his sister's still form. His heart thumping rapidly, he fearfully inspected her body, his eyes raking over every inch of her for signs of injury.

Mari's suit was ripped in several places, most likely acquired from her fall down, revealing several thin lines of blood and dark bruises on her pale skin. Her fingers were red and dirty, covered with scratches and dust. Upon closer inspection, Shiro was relieved to find a pulse, thank God, but her breaths were uneven and thin. He had no clue what sort of internal damage had been inflicted upon her body, but with how far she had fallen, it couldn't be good.

"Please don't be bad, please don't be bad," Shiro murmured to himself as he activated his gauntlet scanner. After giving Mari a quick once-over with the device, an x-ray image of her body appeared on the holo-screen being projected by his glove. Several areas of the skeleton were highlighted, bringing Shiro's attention to the cracked ribs and tiny fracture in the back of Mari's skull. Thankfully none of her internal organs had been damaged and her spine looked fine, but she had a concussion and the back of her head was bleeding.

"Shiro! How does she look?" Allura called down to him, and he glanced up to see her, Keith, and Lance at the top of the cliff, waiting anxiously for his response.

How was he supposed to answer her? Mari wasn't in immediate danger of dying but she was far from being all right.

"She's stable!" he shouted grimly in response. "But I don't want to risk moving her like this. Lance, Keith, see if the Arusians have a stretcher in their medical supplies."

As the boys disappeared from view to do what they were told, Shiro knelt down next to his sister, taking her hand in his own flesh one and squeezing it gently.

"You're gonna be okay," he murmured more to himself than her, desperately trying to calm his pounding heart and reassure himself that she really would be all right. "You're gonna be okay. Niisan is here now."

Mari remained limp and unmoving on the ground, showing no indication that she had heard him. She looked so peaceful just laying there, her dark hair having fallen out of its bun and forming a halo of sorts around her head, and her pale skin seemingly glowing in the sunlight. It was almost as if she were simply sleeping, dead even, but the blood-stained grass beneath her head and the bruises and scratches on her skin indicated a much more violent reason for her unconsciousness state.

Shiro couldn't help but smile ruefully as he recalled her fifth grade class production of Snow White: Mari had originally been cast as the fair princess herself (due to her resemblance to the princess and her singing voice), but she lost the role when she beat up Prince Charming for actually trying to kiss her during their first dress rehearsal. Shiro had been visiting home for the weekend and had intended to surprise Mari at play practice, only to enter the theater and find her pouncing on the poor prince. It took Shiro and two teachers a good five minutes to finally pry the fighting duo off of one another, and Mari was promptly demoted to a member of the choir.

She hadn't minded though; she had been glad to be out of that frilly dress, and she was overjoyed by the fact that Shiro was visiting from the Garrison for the weekend. They had stayed up all night together catching up: Mari told him about the bojutsu lessons she had begun taking as well as her new friend, Jia. She rambled on about their class field trip to the observatory, how she had understood everything that was said during the presentation and how she had known all the answers to the presenter's questions. In turn, Shiro told her about life at the Garrison, about all the classes he was taking and what he was learning. He brought up the flight simulator, his friend, Matthew Holt, and he even mentioned the scary Commander Iverson. Then they had just goofed off, pillow fighting, watching scary and silly movies, eating junk food. Shiro was even going to take Mari on a joyride around the neighborhood on his new motorcycle, but their father was quick to shut that idea down.

The memory fading already, Shiro felt his throat close and his jaw clenched furiously. Dammit, what was wrong with them? Why was Mari pushing him away? Why couldn't he just talk to her? Why had everything changed between them? They were questions only Mari had the answers to, and Shiro was going to have to pry them out of her once she had healed and woken up.

After what seemed like an eternity later, Lance finally scampered down the cliff side with the stretcher. He set it on the ground next to Mari and together he and Shiro gently slid her onto it. Given the size of the Arusians, the stretcher was a bit too small for the whole length of her body to fit on it, leaving her legs to dangle over the edge of one side.

"Okay," Shiro muttered, tying the final strap that would keep his sister from falling out of the stretcher once it was lifted. "Lance, on the count of three we're going to—Lance!"

Off to his left the Blue Paladin was crouched down several feet away in front of a small patch of shrubbery. He jumped slightly at Shiro's exclamation and he quickly stood to face his leader. A baseball-sized, crystal ball sat perfectly in the palm of his hand, multiple blue, misty, and glowing sparks swirling lazily underneath the glossy surface.

"What is that?" Shiro asked, frowning at the object, and Lance simply shrugged.

"It was just sitting in that bush over there," he said, jabbing one thumb at the shrub. "Don't think this belongs in the forest though."

"He is correct!" The two paladins looked up to see the elderly Arusian woman waving at them from the top of the cliff. "That is the relic Mari-ko was retrieving for me!"

"We'll bring it back to you once we take care of Mari," Shiro called up to the Arusian and Lance carefully tucked the orb into one of the pouches on his belt. Then gesturing to the stretcher, he said to the Blue Paladin, "Let's go, buddy. Pidge is waiting for us."

* * *

After Mari had been safely loaded onto the Green Lion, Shiro and Pidge flew back to the Castle to help Coran place her in one of the healing pods. Hunk returned to the Arusian village in Yellow, leaving him, Lance, Keith, and Allura to wrap up the repairs.

Everyone regrouped in silence just outside the small Arusian town as they took a moment to digest what had just happened. Another one of their teammates had a brush with death, first Lance, and now Mari. It reminded them that anything could go wrong at anytime, and this little fact was even more frightening now that they were battling an entire empire of destructive and merciless purple aliens. If they wanted to get out of this war alive, then they had to stick together, to protect one another. They were a team now and everyone needed to trust one another, especially Mari.

"Why…Why didn't she ask us for help?" Hunk finally broke the silence, his expression full of hurt and worry.

"Cuz she hates all of us," Lance groaned and Hunk looked at him fearfully.

"What?! No she doesn't!" he shrilled, and he looked to Allura and Keith to back him up. "She doesn't, right?"

"She does not hate us, Hunk," Allura said. "…At least I don't think she does. I am sure there must be some good reason she did not come to us for assistance."

"There isn't!" Keith suddenly snapped, his anger resurfacing. "She's just a stubborn idiot that's too proud to ask for help."

"Or…maybe she's just afraid to drag others into her own problems," Hunk suggested quietly and the others shared brief looks of concern.

"Paladins of Voltron, princess."

The group started and turned to see the old Arusian woman from the cliff standing before them, a sorrowful look on her face.

"I am deeply sorry for causing you so much trouble," she said, bowing slightly and sounding like she was on the verge of tears. "I am responsible for Mari-ko's injuries. I should not have asked her to retrieve my relic for me."

Allura tried her best to smile reassuringly. "Do not worry. You are our allies now, it is our sworn duty to help you and your people in any way that we can, especially after all the trouble we've caused your village," she said kindly. "Besides, Mari will be just fine once she spends some time in our castle's healing pods."

The old Arusian displayed a brief smile, but it quickly faded, her guilt having not been assuaged. Next to her, Lance suddenly brightened and he opened his belt pouch before producing the orb to her.

"I believe this belongs to you, ma'am," he said, leaning down slightly to hand it to her. The old woman's eyes widened at the sight of the crystal ball, but she made no move to take it from him.

"It has changed!" she whispered in awe, her eyes following the dancing balls of light contained inside the sphere. "Those were not there before."

"What?" Lance asked, raising a confused eyebrow at her.

"There wasn't anything inside that when Mari and I first found it," Keith explained. "It just looked like a regular glass ball. …Lance, what did you do to it?"

"Nothing! This is exactly how I found it!" he insisted, waving the item back and forth in front of Keith's face and causing the Red Paladin to scowl in annoyance.

"Hold on a tick," Allura said and she easily snatched the object from Lance.

"Hey!" he protested, but the princess ignored him as she inspected the ball closely.

"This looks a lot like…a memory storage unit," she realized, her eyes widening in surprise.

"What? Like the one in the Castle that has your dad's memories in it?" Hunk asked.

"Yes, but this is so much simpler than the technology we use to extract memories," Allura frowned. Then addressing the Arusian woman she said, "If you don't mind my asking, how did you stumble upon this relic?"

"I know not of its origins," the elder admitted sadly. "It was simply handed down to me by my ancestors. It has been in my family for many generations, and it has never once contained those little stars."

"Memories," Allura murmured to herself. "I wonder…could they be Mari's?"

"Whoa!" Lance exclaimed, moving closer to get a better look at the orb in the princess's hand. "So those wispy glowy things are _all_ of Mari's memories?"

"Not all, but they could be some of them, yes," Allura nodded in reply. Then turning to the Arusian woman once more, she inquired gently, "Would you mind if I held onto this for a while? I'd like to examine it further if that is all right with you."

"Certainly princess," the elder nodded. "I do not mind parting with it for a while, especially if it could be of some use to you and Mari-ko."

"Thank you," Allura smiled gratefully. "I promise you, we shall return it before our departure from Arus."

As the old lady hobbled off, Lance looked to the princess unsurely, glancing between her and the orb worriedly. "Are you going to try to look at Mari's memories?" he asked.

"That is my intention, yes," she nodded curtly in reply.

"Isn't that, I don't know…kind of invasive? You know, a breach of privacy?" he said hesitantly.

"You want to get to know her better, don't you?" Allura raised one eyebrow at him and he shrugged.

"Yeah, but I don't wanna go snooping around in her private thoughts!"

"Yeah! Yeah, what if we find something super personal?" Hunk pitched in. "Or something really embarrassing? Like, what if we see a memory of her in the bathroom or getting changed or something like that? Guys, she's gonna kill us if she finds out we pried!"

"I'm trying to help her this way," Allura sighed. "Whatever is going on with Mari seems to go much deeper than any of us could ever understand. If she hasn't been willing to open up to even Shiro, then there is absolutely no way she is going to confide in any of us. But maybe with this,"—she nodded to the crystal ball in her hand—"we can find some answers."

* * *

Translations:

niisan=big brother


	9. Chapter 9

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

By nightfall, the Arusian village had been completely restored to its former state and the paladins and Allura returned to the Castle. Coran gave them an official report on Mari's condition: there was no tissue or spinal damage, thank the ancients, but she had a concussion, several cracked ribs, a small fracture in her skull, and a gash on the back of her head. They were lucky the cliff hadn't been any higher and that there weren't any rocks at the bottom; the damage would've been much more life threatening otherwise. Still, it would take some time for Mari to fully heal. She'd be in her pod for at least the whole night, giving the team plenty of time to crack the mystery behind the Arusian's memory orb.

"Ah! This is a Putaverunt Crystal!" Coran smiled slightly as he examined the item. "I haven't seen one of these in ages."

"Putaver-what now?" Lance frowned in confusion.

"Putaverunt. It a memory holder," Coran explained. "My grandfather told me stories about how Alteans used to mine these on Vitrum. The data our scientists collected from these gems was eventually used to create the A.I. memory units we have here on the Castle."

"But why build those when they already had the crystals?" Pidge wondered.

"These crystals have magical properties so they tend to be… _fickle_ items. For whatever reason, they work the best on those who are currently weak of heart and mind. And the method of memory extraction tends to be much, _much_ more painful as a person's thoughts are being copied and forcefully ripped out of their heads. The systems we have now are much safer and much less painful, plus they can extract memories from anyone without any harsh side effects."

"Harsh side effects?" Shiro repeated, worry lacing his features.

"There have been numerous cases of complete memory loss after using one of these crystals. There have also been rare instances where the user went completely brain dead…" Coran's voice trailed off as he noticed Shiro blanch, and he quickly added, "N-Not to worry though! Mari's scans showed that her brain activity was completely healthy and normal."

"I guess magic still doesn't beat the wonders of technology," Pidge nodded matter-of-factly, smiling slightly to herself as she pushed her glasses further up the bridge of her nose.

"So, what are we gonna do with it?" Hunk wondered, staring nervously at the crystal in Coran's hand. "We're not really going to try to look at Mari's memories are we?"

Shiro looked at the Yellow Paladin in mild surprise. "Who said anything about doing that?"

"I suggested that we give it a try," Allura spoke up. "I believe it will provide us insight on whatever's been bothering Mari as of lately. However, since she is your sister, I suppose asking for your permission first is neces—"

"Do it," Shiro interrupted and the princess seemed slightly taken aback. "Do whatever you can to access those memories."

"Alrighty then!" Coran complied. "I should be able to hook the crystal up to one of our own units and transfer the memories over. Give me a varga or so and I'll have it done."

As soon as Coran disappeared through of the bridge doors, Keith gave Shiro a look of uncertainty. "Are you sure this is a good idea?" he asked their leader.

"Yeah, Mari's not gonna like it when she finds out what we did," Lance pointed out. "She's gonna be super ticked."

"She can be mad all she wants," Shiro said, his expression set in determination. "It's not like I haven't dealt with an angry Mari before. But she's given us no choice: she won't share anything with us and this is our only way to figure out what's wrong. I just hope we'll be able to help her with what we find."

* * *

A varga had passed since Coran first began to transfer the memories collected in the Putaverunt Crystal. In that time, Shiro had showered and changed into his regular attire and although he knew he must be hungry, he couldn't bring himself to eat anything. He was too anxious, fretting over Mari's status in the healing pod and dreading what sort of secrets they'd find in her memories. He found himself pacing up and down the halls of the Castle, waiting for Coran to call the team together.

As he passed the observation deck, he paused in the doorway to see Keith standing in front of the window, arms crossed over his chest. It wasn't unusual for Shiro to find the teen alone, but he had known Keith long enough to know when something was bothering him.

"Is everything okay?" he called out, making his presence known, and Keith immediately stiffened in surprise. When he realized that it was only Shiro, he visibly relaxed and averted his gaze back to the window.

"I'm fine," he shrugged half-heartedly as the older man came to stand beside him. "Just…worried, I guess."

"Same here," Shiro admitted, and there was a moment of silence between them before Keith finally caved.

"Shiro, I…I am so sorry," he said, his voice soft and his tone regretful. "About Mari, I—"

"It's not your fault, Keith."

"But it is!" he insisted. "I could've tried harder to stop her but I didn't. And then I just left her alone like that. Mari could have died and it would've been all my fault!"

"Don't talk like that," Shiro gently urged. "You aren't to blame at all. Mari chose to climb down herself. And you didn't abandon her, you were getting a rope to help her, right?"

"I didn't tell her what I was doing though. She probably thought I was just giving up on her," Keith muttered. "I could've done more, like gone down instead of her. I should've just called you over. She wouldn't have gotten hurt if I had just…done something differently."

Keith stared at the ground guilty, dejectedly, not wanting to meet Shiro's gaze. The Black Paladin sighed and placed a comforting hand on the teen's shoulder.

"Don't beat yourself up about it, Keith," Shiro said, his tone gentle and forgiving. "This wasn't any of your fault. And I promise you, not a single person on this ship blames you for what happened. But what's done is done, and what's important is that everything is going to be okay. We have to put this incident behind us so that we can move forward, all right?"

"I guess…" Keith mumbled and Shiro tried his best to smile reassuringly.

"If you're feeling that badly about it, you can still apologize to Mari if you want," he suggested. "I'm sure she'll forgive you. In fact, I don't think she'll hold you accountable for what happened either."

Keith grimaced at the thought, but deep down he knew Shiro was right—he usually always was. Feeling a bit better than before, he finally met the older man's gaze and gave him a small but grateful smile. "Thanks, Shiro."

Suddenly, Coran's voice spoke over the Castle's comms, putting an end to their little talk as he announced, "Everyone, if you'd be so kind to meet me on the bridge, I've finished transferring Mariko's memories."

* * *

After everyone had gathered on the bridge, Coran led the group to a dark and relatively empty room of the Castle. There were no windows at all, the only light coming from the dimly glowing blue veins along the sides of the walls and the sparkling memories that floated listlessly inside a large cylindrical tube in the center of the room.

"Alrighty then," Coran said, beginning to type in a set of commands on the control panel in front of the memory container. "Before we get started, I have a few explanations on how this is going to work. First, Putaverunt Crystals tend to extract the strongest memories first, and since Mari wasn't holding it for an extended period of time, it is unlikely that it completely collected all of them."

"So that crystal only took pieces of her memory," Pidge clarified, her eyes zeroing in on the the glowing orbs inside the container. "Starting with the ones that stand out the most to her."

"Right you are, Number Six," Coran nodded matter-of-factly. "So we can expect a few cut-offs, snippets, and time skips. All right, second, I've set this unit to play the extracted memories in order from oldest to newest, so we don't get confused."

"We're not gonna be watching, like, her whole life story, are we?" Lance asked, not even bothering to hide the dread in his voice.

"And is there gonna be some creepy holographic version of her watching us the whole time?" Hunk pitched in nervously.

"Oh no, no, no," Coran chuckled. "Viewing all her memories would take far too long and the crystal was much too small to hold _that_ much information. See? The memories that it collected from Mari aren't even enough to form a core in the containment unit, let alone produce an A.I. of her. Now then, is everyone ready?"

 _Not really_ , Shiro thought grimly to himself, but it was too late to turn back now. He had to do this for Mari's sake, for the sake of their relationship as brother and sister. Taking a steadying breath, he nodded to Coran and the viewing started. The memory particles glowed brighter and the room grew darker as a projected image flickered against the far wall.

"Cool! This is just like the movies! I wish we had popcorn or something," Lance whispered fairly loudly before Pidge elbowed him in the ribs to be quiet.

Finally, the image came into focus, revealing a boy and a girl sitting on tatami mats, a slew of children's books surrounding them. The girl appeared to be very young, remnants of baby chub rounding out her face. Her hair was just long enough to be tied into two short pigtails and her dark eyes were large and curious as she flipped through the book in her hands. The boy was several years older than her, a preteen at least, but despite his scrawny build and shaggy hair, he was immediately recognizable as the young Takashi Shirogane.

"Awww!" Hunk crooned. "You two were so cute!"

"Was this your home on Earth, Shiro?" Allura asked curiously, taking note of the Japanese styled room the memory took place in.

"It was our grandfather's house," Shiro explained, smiling slightly to himself as a rather nostalgic feeling came over him. "Our parents were often busy with work so Mari and I stayed over at his place a lot during the day. He practically raised us."

As Takashi pulled Mari onto his lap and began reading another book with her, an elderly man with an uncanny resemblance to Shiro entered the room. He held a video camera in his hands and he knelt down next to the children as he began recording.

 _"It's Mariko-chan's birthday today and she got all of these cool books as a present from ojiisan,"_ the old man grinned into the camera before facing it towards the kids. _"Mariko, how old are you today?"_

Mari looked up at him and beamed. _"I'm three!" she cooed, holding up three fingers._

 _"No, you're four now, silly,"_ Takashi chuckled and he held up four fingers to her. _"See? Four."_

 _"Four,"_ she repeated, putting up her pinky finger as well.

 _"Do you like the books ojiisan gave you?"_ he asked.

 _"Yeah! Thank you!"_ she exclaimed and their grandfather smiled.

 _"It was my pleasure,"_ he said. _"So which ones are your favorites so far?"_

 _"I like—I like these ones!"_ she said, holding up three books about outer space.

 _"Oh, so you like the space books, huh?"_ their grandfather noted and Mari nodded vigorously.

 _"The stars and planets are pretty,"_ she said, showing off several pages in her books that contained colorful pictures of various celestial objects.

 _"Do you want be an astronaut when you get older?"_ he inquired of her.

 _"Y-Yeah! I wanna go to the Garrison and go into space and meet aliens and stuff!"_

 _"The Galaxy Garrison, huh?"_

 _"She wants to study there when she gets older,"_ Takashi grinned. _"Dad told her about it not too long ago and she's been babbling on about it and space ever since."_

 _"Me and Takashi are gonna go to the Garrison together!"_ Mari beamed excitedly and their grandfather raised an eyebrow at Takashi.

 _"I-I still haven't decided whether I want to check it out or not,"_ the boy admitted. _"Mari's just gotten me a bit interested in it, that's all."_

 _"Well, you both still have plenty of time to decide. There's no need to rush things,"_ their grandfather chuckled. _"Now, who's up for some birthday egg rolls?_ "

Mari and Takashi's eyes lit up in excitement, both of them squealing, " _ME!_ " before scrambling to their feet and disappearing into another room.

"What are birthday egg rolls?" Hunk asked, his interest peaked at the mention of food.

"Our grandfather always made egg rolls for special occasions," Shiro said, smiling at the memory. "His dad had taught him and then he taught our dad and us how to make them. It's kinda become a family tradition. We'd put in shredded lettuce and some sort of fish or meat…They were always really good."

Before Shiro could dwell more on how much he missed the food from his childhood, the scene suddenly shifted and an older Mari was shown standing next to the front door of their parent's house, her hair tied into low pigtails once more. A baseball cap with the Garrison symbol on it sat snuggly on her head and she bounced up and down on her heels excitedly, tightly clutching the straps of the backpack she wore. A small black kitten was at her feet, playfully batting at her shoelaces.

"Now _that_ is our house," Shiro explained to no one in particular. "And that beauty is our cat, Kage."

Around the corner from where Mari was standing, the voices of several chatting women could be heard from the living room.

 _"…You must be so proud of Takashi,"_ one woman said, Shiro recognizing her voice as belonging their old neighbor, Miss Yada. _"He's such a sweet and talented boy."_

" _And he's turning out to be just as handsome as his father,"_ another one added and they all laughed.

 _"So, what does Takashi have in mind for a career?"_ a second inquired.

 _"He's already enrolled in the Galaxy Garrison's Space Exploration Program,"_ another woman explained, and Shiro's heart clenched at the sound of his mother's voice. God, it had been so long since he'd talked to her, seen her. _"He aced the admissions test and they're already holding a spot for him."_

"You _aced_ the entrance exam?" Lance hissed, gaping at Shiro in disbelief. "How?!"

"There's this thing called 'studying', Lance," Pidge rolled her eyes at him. "Maybe you should try it sometime."

"It's not that big of a deal," Shiro shrugged, slightly embarrassed. "Mari and Keith passed the exam with flying colors."

"There's no way Mullet over here got a better score than me," Lance glared at Keith who simply glowered back.

"Guys, shush!" Hunk whispered. "The scene's still going!"

 _"…he's so excited to start there, he's taking summer classes so he'll graduate high school by the time he's sixteen,"_ Mrs. Shirogane continued.

 _"And what about Mariko? What does she want to do when she gets older?"_ Voice Two asked.

Mrs. Shirogane chuckled. _"She's adopted her brother's dream it seems."_

 _"She wants to enroll in the Garrison too?"_ Voice One said, almost incredulously.

 _"Well, I guess we can't all have original thoughts,"_ Miss Yada said, causing the other women to giggle in agreement.

Mari's excited bounce came to a halt and her smile vanished from her face. Suddenly the ring of a timer went off and Mrs. Shirogane said, _"Oh, that'll be the tea. Pardon me ladies, I'll be right back."_

Several footsteps later and the sound of the kitchen door opening and closing, the remaining three woman began to chat in hushed voices, still unaware of the little girl listening to their "private" conversation.

 _"Do you really think someone like Mariko could get into the Garrison?"_ Voice One asked.

 _"Not a chance,"_ Miss Yada scoffed. _"She has to pass that difficult entrance test for one. And if she did somehow miraculously pass it, I bet she'd be kicked out in less than a month."_

 _"Oh, that's right!"_ Voice Two agreed. "With that temperamental and hostile nature of hers, I'm sure she'd get into one too many fights."

 _"The other day she pulled my poor cat's tail after it scratched her,"_ Voice One said. _"If she can't get along with animals how does she expect to get along with humans? I don't know how her poor parents stand her, she's such a beastly child."_

 _"She's so troublesome,"_ Miss Yada sighed in agreement. " _Goodness, I hope she doesn't hinder Takashi in his studies."_

Mari's entire body was quivering now, her head bent low as tears began to pool in the corners of her eyes. Seeming to sense her distress, Kage stopped his playing to paw at her heel, mewing softly in concern.

"Your mom was friends with some really terrible ladies," Hunk said, watching sadly as the little girl slumped against the wall and curled up into a ball, cradling Kage in her arms. "They're being so mean to her."

"Why did your mom even let them into the house?" Pidge asked, looking to Shiro expectantly, but it was like he hadn't heard a single thing that any of them had said. He was just staring at the ongoing scene on the wall, a look of pure mortification on his face.

"Shiro?" Keith said hesitantly, placing one hand on the Black Paladin's shoulder.

"They're our neighbors. I-I didn't even know," Shiro whispered finally, his voice wavering slightly. "I didn't know they were saying such awful things about her. And—And my mother, she…she just _let_ them all say it! Mari, why…Why didn't she tell me?"

Suddenly, a fourteen year old Takashi appeared, scrambling to put on his jacket while he hurried down the stairs. Mari immediately brushed the tears out of her eyes, an action that went unnoticed by him, and she looked up at him solemnly.

 _"You're late,"_ she huffed. She set Kage on the ground and stood up, placing both hands on her hips as Takashi winced.

 _"Sorry, sorry,"_ he apologized, grinning sheepishly. _"My alarm didn't go off for some reason."_

 _"Excuses, excuses,"_ Mari rolled her eyes and Takashi chuckled lightly.

 _"Well, someone's full of sass this morning,"_ he said, flicking her baseball cap playfully. His smile disappeared though as he noticed her dour expression. _"Hey, your eyes are all watery,"_ he said, his tone gentle and worried. " _Are you okay?"_

 _"I've just been yawning a lot,"_ Mari shrugged, and the way she so casually lied to him made Shiro's heart break. _"It's cuz I've been sooooo bored waiting for you to get your butt out of bed."_

And as Takashi laughed, Mari just forced a smile, hiding what she had heard, keeping all that pain to herself. Shiro's blood began to boil as he watched the rest of the scene unfold with them heading out to visit the observatory. He was mad at Mari, mad that she had been hiding such horrible things from him for years. She had told him about everything else going on in her life, why hadn't she told him about this? It was infuriating, knowing that she had chosen to burden herself like this at such a young age. But more than he was mad at her, he was mad at himself. He had been a carefree and ignorant teenager at the time, riding high on life and dreaming of his future at the Garrison. He hadn't even noticed what was going on with his little sister, all this horrible verbal abuse she was suffering under. He should've paid closer attention, pressed Mari more on what was bothering her.

The image on the wall shifted once more before refocusing, the memories seeming to have skipped over the actual trip to the observatory as it was now the evening. Takashi and Mari were walking home now, making their way through the breezy neighborhood towards their house.

 _"Do you want me to carry that for you?"_ Takashi asked, pointing to the gift shop bag she now possessed. The translucent plastic revealed that it was full of new books and a t-shirt, and it seemed much too heavy for the six year old to continue carrying.

 _"No!"_ Mari insisted though, waving his hand away. _"It's my stuff, I can carry it."_

 _"You spent all your birthday and Christmas money on that stuff despite my offering to pay for half of it,"_ Takashi sighed. _"The least I could do is carry it for you."_

 _"No!"_ she continued to deny him. _"You already took me today and that's enough. I-I don't wanna be a bother to you anymore."_

 _"What are you talking about?"_ Takashi chuckled. _"You're my cute little sister, you could never be a bother to me."_

When Mari didn't answer, Takashi's smile immediately faded. He gently brought her to a halt and knelt down in front of her, his eyes widening in surprise as he noticed her tearing up. _"Mariko, what's wrong?"_ he asked gently. _"Was is something I said? I'm sorry, please don't cry."_

 _"I-I-It wasn't you,"_ Mari sniffled. _"It was—Ah! No, not my hat!"_

A sudden strong gust of wind had blown it right off her head, sending it tumbling down the sidewalk. Shoving her bag into Takashi's arms, Mari tore after it, ignoring her brother's shouts to stop and wait for him.

"So she _was_ trying to tell you," Pidge murmured thoughtfully to herself, but Shiro just stared at the projection in confusion, his heart racing as they watched Mari's hat land in the street.

"What…What _is_ this? I don't remember this happening," he realized grimly and everyone looked at him in alarm. "Why can't I recall this happening?"

"What do you mean?" Allura inquired just as Mari ran out into the street to retrieve her hat. She didn't even notice the car that was barreling straight for her, and Shiro's breath hitched as Takashi desperately yelled for her to move. There was an awful screech as the driver slammed onto his breaks, but it was too late. Mari didn't even have enough time to register what was going on when her brother roughly shoved her out of the way and was hit by the vehicle instead of her.

* * *

** **Author's note:** So 1) Pidge is now Number Six in this fanfic cuz Mari's here and she's taller than Pidge but shorter than Keith so...yeah. Coran orders them by height. 2) So sorry for how late I'm uploading this. My day has just been kinda crummy and busy and stressful, and I didn't have time to post until now. 3) That thing about special egg rolls was something that I pulled from my own life. My Japanese grandmother always makes these STELLAR egg rolls during holidays and stuff, and she's taught me, my mom, aunt, and sisters how to make them. The Shirogane egg rolls could also lead into a potential bonding moment between Hunk and Mari (since there's still so little interaction between them) so that's kinda why I wanted to add that bit.

Translations:

ojiisan=grandfather

kage=shadow


	10. Chapter 10

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

"Wow," Pidge breathed as the memory faded and was slow to change to the next one. "That was…"

"Intense?" Keith muttered.

"Apples and bananas _crazy_?!" Lance provided.

"Terrifying?!" Hunk barely squeaked.

Shiro was silent, unsure of what disturbed him more: the fact that he had witnessed Mari almost dying for the second time that day, or that he had just seen himself get hit by a car.

"Shiro? Are you all right?" Allura asked gently, her eyebrows furrowed in concern as she watched him. "You don't look so well. We can stop if you'd like."

"N-No, I'm fine," he shook his head weakly, struggling to regain his composure. "I'm just shocked, that's all."

"You said you don't remember any of this happening," the princess prompted and he nodded grimly in confirmation.

"I remember waking up and taking Mari to the observatory that day, but what we did there, the walk home…it's all missing. It's like a blank spot in my memory," Shiro admitted grimly. "When I woke up in the hospital, the doctors told me I was lucky to be alive. They wouldn't go into details and simply said I'd been hit by a car while we were walking home. No one ever mentioned that Mari had almost gotten hit or that I had saved her.

"Neither of your parents told you?" Pidge asked and Shiro shook his head.

"I…I didn't know until now."

"And Mari didn't say anything to you on the matter?" Allura asked.

"Not a word," Shiro replied. "She just avoided me a lot after that. I don't even think she visited while I was in the hospital."

"Look! Another one's starting everybody!" Coran suddenly exclaimed, and everyone diverted their attention back to the image appearing on the wall.

The young Takashi Shirogane was laying on a hospital bed, donned in a gown and with all sorts of wires attached to him along with an IV drip. His face was bruised and scratched on one side and a thick thing of gauze had been wrapped around his head. A cast encased his right arm while his left was in a sling. Standing next to him were a doctor and his parents while Mari sat quietly in the solitary chair next to the head of the bed, clutching her Garrison baseball cap tightly in one hand. Several bandages had been placed on her legs and arms, Mari most likely having scrapped them against the pavement when her brother had pushed her.

 _"We've sedated him for now to help with the pain,"_ the doctor was explaining to the Shirogane couple. _"I want to keep him overnight for observation for the next few days, just to be safe. But he should be able to go home by the end of the week. He's incredibly lucky."_

 _"You call this_ lucky _?"_ Mrs. Shirogane almost growled, angrily gesturing to her unconscious son.

 _"Unlike other less fortunate car accident victims I've had to treat in the past, Takashi's condition is stable and he will wake up to see his family again. So yes, I do in fact consider him to be very lucky,"_ the doctor replied coolly. _"And considering that you could have completely lost your daughter today if not for your son's quick actions, I'd think you'd be a bit more grateful, Mrs. Shirogane."_

Mrs. Shirogane had turned red in the face with anger, but before she could snap back at the doctor, he excused himself from the room.

"Oooohhhh he told her," Pidge snickered and Shiro suppressed the urge to roll his eyes.

 _"My dad should be here in a few minutes,"_ Mr. Shirogane sighed, glancing briefly at his watch before kneeling down in front of his daughter. His expression was kind yet sad, and he gently brushed a strand of loose hair out of his daughter's face before softly continuing, _"Mommy and I are going to stay here with Takashi tonight, so ojiisan is coming to take you home, okay Mariko? You'll be good for him, right?"_

Mari stiffly nodded and her father smiled slightly. _"Good,"_ he said. _"Now, where'd you leave your jacket and bag of gift shop goodies?"_

 _"The check up room,"_ she barely mumbled, but somehow her father had still heard her.

 _"Ah. I'll go get them for you, so stay here with mommy and Takashi until I come back, okay?"_

Then he disappeared through the door, leaving his daughter and wife alone with their unconscious son. The girls were both quiet for several minutes, the only noise in the room the steady beep of Takashi's heart monitor. Finally, Mrs. Shirogane turned to Mari, giving her the coldest look of contempt Shiro had ever seen his mother make. Her eyes were rimmed with red from crying and her jaw was clenched as her face flushed, indicating that she was on the verge of blowing her top.

 _"What were you doing in the street?"_ she asked, her voice chillingly low and even.

Mari looked up at her mother, a hint of fear in her eyes. _"W-What?"_

 _"That_ IDIOTIC _driver said you jumped out into the street first before Takashi pushed you out of the way,"_ she said. _"_ WHAT _w_ ere you _doing in the street, Mariko?"_

 _"I-I was just…"_ She swallowed nervously before murmuring, _"I was…getting my hat."_

 _"Your hat?"_ her mother hissed. _"You put yourself in harms way for a dumb hat?!"_

 _"It's not dumb!"_ Mari insisted, standing up defensively. _"Ojiisan gave it to me for my birthday last year!"_

 _"Because of your reckless behavior, you've pulled your father out of work, wasted my one free afternoon, and Takashi_ _is here!"_ Mrs. Shirogane snapped back, furiously gesturing to the hospital room. _"You'd better hope he doesn't sustain any permanent damage from this. Dear God, all the therapy, the medication…his spot at the Garrison would given away too! If you've ruined his future, so help me Mariko—"_

 _"Takashi, Takashi, Takashi! Why is everything always about Takashi?!"_ Mari suddenly screamed, her fear giving way to anger, and her mother stiffened in shock. _"Why is it never about me or how I'm feeling?"_

 _"Stop being selfish! Your brother could have died because of you!"_

 _"I could have died too!"_ Mari shrieked, tears beginning to stream down her reddening cheeks. _"You never care about me or what I wanna do; you just sit around with your ugly friends and make fun of me! I matter too, mom! I'M JUST AS IMPORTANT AS TAKASH—!"_

She was abruptly cut off by a slap to the face, and everyone flinched at the sickening sound it made, the noise reverberating off the walls of the chamber. Shiro's jaw had fallen open in complete horror, and he sat there numbly, his heart and mind racing as he tried to process what the _hell_ his mother had just said and done to her own child.

In the scene, his mom was shaking with rage, and Mari had one hand cupped to her cheek as she stared at her mother in utter shock. _"I am fed up with your nonsense!"_ Mrs. Shirogane seethed, her voice quivering. _"You've already caused this family enough trouble today! Why can't you just…Ugh!"_

She broke down crying just as the projection changed again. Time had passed; Takashi was fully healed out and of the hospital, and he and Mari were now dressed in black and standing in front of the Shirogane family grave. They both looked a bit older now and Takashi held his sister close as their tears flowed.

"This was the day of our grandfather's funeral," Shiro realized, his heart clenching painfully even more now. He had been fifteen and Mari seven when their grandfather had passed away due to illness, and the funeral had been one of the roughest days of his life.

"Geez, are all her memories this depressing?" Lance muttered miserably. "No wonder she's so moody and closed off all the time."

"She was emotional and mentally traumatized as a kid," Keith said quietly. "Do you really expect her to be all sunshine and rainbows like you?"

"Hey! I am not 'all sunshine and rainbows', you know!" Lance snapped. "I may not look it, but I am a super deep, incredibly handsome, and very sensitive guy."

"You're a goofball, that's what you are," Pidge stated bluntly and he made a rather offended sound.

"Okay, okay, so yeah some of Mari's memories are pretty dark. I mean, it seems like she's had a rough past. But hey, that first memory we saw wasn't bad," Hunk tried to remain optimistic. "She's got to have other strong positive memories, right? Maybe the next one will be good?"

Shiro hoped to God it was; he wasn't sure he could handle anymore heartbreaking revelations.

The next few memories were mere pictures that appeared on the wall for no longer than a few seconds—the cut-offs and snippets that Coran had mentioned. From what Shiro could tell, most of them were fairly positive recollections of other relatively significant events in Mari's life: her first karate and judo lessons; meeting her friends for the first time; playing video games and watching anime; even that night they spent together after her Snow White rehearsal incident. There was Shiro's graduation from the Garrison; his moving out of the house; that one time she had called him to come bail her out after she'd been caught at a drift race (that one wasn't very positive, but it did make Shiro smile as he recalled the event); him telling her that he was chosen for the Kerberos misson; him leaving for said mission; the day she received her acceptance into the Garrison; her orientation and her first day of classes.

The fragmented memories only went downhill from there. Mari was told that the Kerberos crew had disappeared and that her brother and his crew were presumed dead. She was being removed from the Space Exploration program, and Shiro watched with a heavy heart as their father and several other officers had to remove her from campus. She was kicking and screaming and crying, begging for someone, _anyone_ , to tell her that it wasn't true, that Takashi was fine and that she could continue studying at the Garrison.

They'd had a funeral for Shiro, burying an empty casket along with any hope of his return. While her parents and friends wept, Mari had just stood there numbly, staring at the grave with an unnervingly blank expression. There was a haunting silence to the whole scene, as if it had been muted or the sounds of that day had been forgotten, but Mrs. Shirogane's voice broke the silence, uttering one awful sentence that sent a chill down Shiro's spine.

 _"It should have been Mari instead."_

Hunk and Lance gasped quietly in horror and Coran frowned sadly. Allura, Pidge, and Keith scowled in dismay, and Shiro just stood there, shocked beyond words.

"Whoa, that was uncalled for," Lance glared at the projection on the wall.

"I agree," Allura nodded. "Your mother is a most unpleasant woman, Shiro."

"Yeah, I'm sorry, but your mom is not a nice lady," Hunk cautiously pitched in. "Moms are supposed to be warm and kind and they make you yummy food—like my mom. Man, I miss her…But yeah, your mom is _not_ like that."

Shiro wanted so badly to disagree with them, but he couldn't, not after what he'd just witnessed. He didn't want to believe those words had come from his own mother's mouth—she couldn't have said something so horrible, not about her own child! He wanted to believe it was her overwhelming grief talking, but after seeing the way she had treated Mari when he was hospitalized, he couldn't know for sure. She couldn't have a grudge towards her own daughter, could she? No, Shiro refused to believe that. Yes, it was extremely evident that she played favorites when it came to her children, but she couldn't completely hate Mari. Their mother was just in agony, worn out from mourning and not really meaning what she said.

When the scene changed, Mari was standing alone in front of the family's grave. It was night time and she was breathing raggedly as she glared at the tombstone, her hands curling into angry fists. Then out of nowhere, she viciously punched the spot on the stone where Shiro's name had been recently engraved into it. The skin of her knuckles broke and began to bleed and a slew of swears escaped her lips.

 _"Dammit…Dammit, dammit, dammit!"_ she cursed, her voice rising to a shout in mere seconds. _"Why do you always screw up everything for me? Mom hates me because of you, everyone looks down on me because of you! I was pulled from the Garrison because of you! All that hard work I did to get there and now I'm stuck here in this stupid town on this stupid planet all because of you, dammit! You destroyed everything! You're an asshole and I hate you! I hate you, I hate you, I hate you!"_

Mari was bawling now, sinking to her knees as the hurtful words hung in the air. She cupped her reddened face in her hands, her whole body shaking.

 _"I'm sorry…I'm so sorry!"_ she choked out between sobs. _"Please come back. Please be alive! You're not dead—you can't be dead! I miss you and I need you! Everything hurts, it hurts so badly…Please don't leave me alone here, Takashi!"_

Shiro couldn't stand it anymore. Seeing Mari curled up in a ball on the ground, so broken and alone and in so much agony as her body was racked by a mixture of grief-driven and guilty sobs, was the breaking point for him. His heart aching and his eyes already stinging from unshed tears, he briskly turned away from the already fading projection and headed towards the exit. As soon as he had slipped through the doors, he leaned heavily against the wall and let out a shaky sigh before forcing himself to take several calming breaths.

Not a minute later, Allura was at his side, having followed after him. He furiously brushed the pooling tears away in mild embarrassment, and she put a comforting hand on his shoulder to help ground him.

"Will you be all right, Shiro?" she asked gently.

"Y-Yeah," he managed. "I'm just a bit overwhelmed, that's all."

"Mari said some rather harsh things to you, but I'm sure she didn't really mean any of it."

"I know she didn't," Shiro sighed. "She was just in so much pain…and she's _still_ hurting. She's lonely and scared and she feels guilty. She still thinks she has to do everything herself. I have to help her before it's too late."

Despite the discomfort peeking at Mari's memories had caused, Shiro was relieved he finally knew what was wrong with her, why she had been acting so defensive and closed off to everyone, especially to him. Now it was his job to as the older brother to comfort and reassure her, remind her that she was loved and wanted and that he was here for her. Mari didn't have to struggle through the burdens of life alone and she needed to know that; she needed to trust her new teammates and her brother.

A new sense of purpose motivating him, Shiro straightened and gave the princess a tired yet reassuring smile. "If anyone needs me, I'll be in the healing chamber," he said. "I know Mari's not due to come out for a while, but I just want to make sure I'm there for her when she wakes up."

* * *

 ****Author's note:** I keep forgetting to say this, but feel free to drop a comment/review down below. They're always appreciated, and I'll try my best to respond to each one :)


	11. Chapter 11

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

 _Where am I? It's dark…And cold…Holy crow, why is everything so damn cold?!_

Mari instinctively tried to wrap her numb arms around her chest to keep the heat in, but her entire body felt unnaturally heavy. Her limbs were like lead and she couldn't move a single muscle. It set her into a panic, trapped in the daunting darkness with no way to escape or defend herself. She felt incredibly vulnerable and was tempted to call out for help when it suddenly felt like she was falling. Not even a second later, she was caught by a pair of arms and something warm and soft was wrapped around her. Slowly, feeling began to return to her limp limbs and she tried to support her own weight, now aware of the sleek and smooth floor beneath her bare feet. But her legs were quivering too much and her knees instantly buckled beneath her. Thankfully the arms holding her tightened, preventing her from collapsing and keeping her upright.

"It's okay, I've got you," an all too familiar voice murmured and her heart nearly leapt into her throat.

Prying open her bleary eyes and taking in her surroundings, Mari realized she was in the healing chamber, wrapped in a blanket and being embraced by her brother. The others were standing nearby, relieved grins on their faces.

"W…Wha's goin' on?" she slurred tiredly, rubbing the sleep from her eyes. "What're we all doin' here?"

"You just came out of a healing pod," Allura explained. "You were in there all night."

"What?!" Mari's eyes flew open, now wide awake. She tried to stand on her own again, but her legs gave way and she cursed to herself as she slumped against Shiro. "Stupid sleep chamber knees…Why was I in there?"

"You got hurt obviously," Lance said, and she shot him an annoyed look that said, 'No duh!'

"I mean what happened to me that required you guys to put in one of the pods?"

"Well…Well what's the last thing you remember happening?" Shiro asked, carefully guiding her to the floor so she could sit down.

"Um…" Mari frowned and hugged her knees to her chest. Her head had begun pounding with a mild headache and she instinctively massaged her temples, as if it would help her think. "Ummmmm…We were…at the Arusian village helping with repairs. We landed and everyone split up to do their own thing. I was sweeping at one point, but…after that everything is blank."

"So you don't remember anything? Not what you did or said after that?" Keith asked, and Mari could swear he sounded a bit…relieved, maybe?

"Not a thing," she shook her head slowly. "Why? What happened? Did I do something embarrassing?"

"More like stupid," he muttered in reply and she frowned at him.

"It was much more reckless than it was stupid," Pidge quickly chimed in.

"Uh huh!" Hunk nodded twice in agreement. "You nearly scared us to death!"

"Yeah, don't ever do that again, young lady!" Lance scolded and Mari resisted the urge to roll her eyes at him.

"Okay, but what exactly did I _do_?" she pressed.

"You…fell off the cliffs near the village," Shiro explained gently.

" _WHAT_?"

"You hit your head pretty badly. You were bleeding and had a concussion along with cracked ribs and a skull fracture." He paused, taking note of how quickly she had paled in the past few seconds and he immediately shook his head, smiling reassuringly as he hurriedly added, "But you're completely better now and that's all that matters."

Mari subconsciously raised a hand to the back of her head, half-expecting to find an open wound still there. But other than the minor headache, there were no more indicators that she had ever obtained a head injury at all.

"How did I fall off the cliffs?" she asked, giving her brother a suspicious look. "What was I even doing near them?"

"An Arusian's crystal fell over the edge and got stuck on a ledge. She and Klaizap asked us— _you_ to help them get it back," Keith said. "You were climbing down when you slipped."

"I've scaled a bunch of the cliffs near the Garrison and I never fell. There's no way I would've just 'slipped'," Mari scoffed and Keith's face contorted in fury.

"That's the same arrogant attitude that got you into trouble, you moron!" he snapped. "Just because it never happened back on Earth doesn't mean it couldn't happen here! You slipped and you fell and you could have _died_!"

The room went quiet as his words hung in the air, and Mari just stared at him in surprise. His hands were clenched at his sides and he scowled before looking away, defensively crossing his arms over his chest. Although Keith would never admit it, he had been genuinely worried about her, Mari realized. And looking around at the sincerely concerned demeanors of the others, they had been just as worried it seemed.

"Ahem," Coran cleared his throat, breaking the tense silence as he spoke. "I believe the reason you lost your balance and fell was from shock. The Arusian's relic that you were retrieving was a Putaverunt Crystal, a memory container with magical properties. And when you touched it, it reacted to your weakened state of mind and pulled several of your most important memories out."

"It _stole_ my memories?!" Mari shrilled and her hands flew up to hold her head, as if to protect it from being pilfered by the crystal again.

"No, no, no, not stolen," Coran shook his head. "It's a process of duplicating and extracting the memories, with the crystal holding the new copies. It's a rather painful and unnerving experience, but you haven't lost a single one of your memories. Well, except for the ones from the past few vargas, but I believe that is due to the blow you received to your head."

Taking a moment to double check, Mari sighed in mild relief; she could still remember her past and everyone who had shaped it, thank goodness.

"So where is this Puta-whatever crystal?" she asked. "Did you give it back to that Arusian woman?"

"Not yet," Coran said. "We're holding onto it for the time being."

"Why?"

"Well…" he drawled, his voice rising in pitch as he nervously glanced at the others for help. They looked just as reluctant to answer though and that immediately sent off alarms in Mari's head.

"What?" she pressed. "It didn't break did it?"

"Not exactly," Allura hesitantly came to her advisor's aid. "It's still in one piece. However it was full of several of your memories and we needed to extract them. We shall return the crystal after the sun rises. Then we can finally leave Arus."

A rush of excitement coursed through Mari at the sound of that. They were finally leaving Arus—they'd be entering outer space again. The interstellar traveling she had always dreamt of doing would finally, _finally_ begin! She couldn't help but beam giddily and she quickly rose to her feet, her strength having returned for the most part.

"Why wait? Let's return the crystal and launch already," she said, nearly bouncing up and down with excitement. She shrugged off the blanket around her shoulders and began to head towards the door.

"Hold on a second," Shiro intervened, moving to block her exit. "Before any of that, we seriously need to talk."

Mari's brilliant smile immediately disappeared and was replaced with an irritated scowl. "Why do you keep saying that?" she groaned. "I keep telling you, there's nothing to—"

"Yes, there _is_ ," he cut her off, his tone startlingly assertive and stern. Shiro rose to his full height, his eyes narrowed at her and his jaw set. He was daring her to say otherwise, and he was ready for whatever tactic she would try to use to worm her way out of the conversation. But no matter what, he wasn't going to let her get away this time.

Not wavered in the slightest by his demeanor, Mari pursed her lips tightly together and folded her arms over her chest, simply glaring at him. She wasn't going to let him intimidate her; there was nothing to say so she wouldn't say a word.

"We saw the memories that were collected in the crystal," Shiro got straight to the point, and he didn't miss the look of fear that flashed across her features.

"You _what_?" she barely managed, her heart rate rising along with her increasing dread.

"They were just a few of your strongest memories, but yes, we saw important parts of your life," Allura confirmed guiltily. "It was my idea to look at them. I just wanted to help you with your inner turmoils and I thought looking into your past would give us some helpful insight. We shouldn't have done so without your permission and I apologize."

"Yeah, you really shouldn't have!" Mari snorted, her blood beginning to boil hotter by the second. "What exactly did you all see?"

"Many, _many_ painful things," the princess admitted quietly.

"Your mean neighbors," Hunk chimed in solemnly.

"The car accident," Pidge murmured.

"Shiro's funeral," Lance added.

"Your mom," Keith muttered and Mari bristled at that one.

"Those were personal and private memories!" she snapped, her cheeks turning red and her whole body shaking with unleashed fury. "How could you all just—UGH!"

Angry tears pricked the corners of her eyes and the lump in her throat prevented her from saying more without the waterworks turning on. She hated how everyone was giving her such pitiful looks, still discernible despite her rapidly blurring vision. Everything that she had tried to hide, everything that she absolutely _hated_ about herself had been shared with all of them, these people who she knew so little about. And that awful year that Shiro had been gone…Everything that she hadn't wanted him to know about that time had been dropped on him all at once, the newest burdens to his countless others, no doubt. He knew now how selfish she had been, blaming her misfortune on him and deeming her crushed dreams a greater loss than the disappearance and assumed death of her only brother.

Her head pounding and her guilt weighing her down, Mari cupped her flushed face in her hands and knelt on the floor, ignoring the sharp pain it caused her knees. She just wanted to curl up and disappear, to be millions of miles away floating listlessly amongst the stars. Instead she was sobbing on the floor in front of strangers and the one person she believed she had hurt the most.

Her chest ached and her breath was coming in uneven gasps; her whole body was convulsing from her sobs, the jerky movements and stress only worsening her headache. The agony and misery seemed never-ending and inescapable. It didn't matter whether she was on Earth or trillions of miles away from home on a different planet: her pain and regret and guilt remained with her. Everything still hurt so, _so_ much…And then she finally cracked under the pressure.

 _"Takashi, h-honto ni gomen ne…_ " Mari bawled, startling everyone as she suddenly spoke in an unfamiliar tongue. " _G-Gomen nasai. Tasukete…Tasukete kudasai, Takashi. Zenshin ga itai…Itai, itai, itai!_ "

Not even missing a beat, Shiro knelt down next to his quivering and crying little sister and brought her close. "Shhhh, it's okay, it's okay," he murmured, cradling her and rocking back and forth slightly. "I'm here, niisan is here. _Itaino, itaino tondeke_."

His own eyes stung with tears, his heart clenching from her desperate pleas and broken state. They really shouldn't have pried into her memories like that, and for a moment Shiro felt guilty. But that feeling was quickly overshadowed by immense relief, and he was glad that they had snooped. Because of it, Mari was finally reaching out to him and asking for help; they were one step closer to mending the rift in their relationship and making the pain of the past fly away.

"Don't cry, it's all right, Mariko," Shiro continued to hush her gently, her sobs getting softer with each passing minute. Then smiling wryly to himself he said jokingly, "You're gonna give me more white hairs if you keep scaring me like this."

Mari sniffled and uttered an almost indiscernible, " _Gomen_."

"I was just kidding," he said, chuckling before planting a kiss on her forehead. When she said nothing and her weeping had been reduced to soft whimpers, he added, "Besides, I should be the one apologizing, not you. I'm the older brother: I'm supposed to take care of you and look out for you, but I never even knew mom treated you so horribly. All this time and I never even noticed how much agony you were in. Why didn't you ever tell me, Mari?"

"I-I didn't want to bother you…" came her muffled reply as she buried her face in his shoulder, too ashamed and upset to bring herself to look at him. "I only cause you trouble."

"A little, yeah, but I don't mind. It's never anything serious," Shiro tried to assure her. "Even though we annoy each other sometimes, I could never hate you for anything that you do."

"Yeah," Pidge chimed in, moving to sit down next to them. "Matt and I got on each other's nerves all the time, and we still love each other."

"Besides, siblings are supposed to give each other trouble," Lance spoke up, smiling warmly as he followed Pidge's lead and sat down beside them as well. "Especially younger siblings. Wrecking havoc for our older sibs is just a part of our jobs."

Pidge grinned and nodded in complete agreement. Mari sniffed and chanced a glance at them but remained quiet, her eyes red-rimmed and her face flushed.

"If you're ever in pain, don't be afraid to tell us about it, okay? It's not good to hold things in," Shiro encouraged her softly. "We're all here to help you, no matter the problem. We all look out for each other. That's what teammates and family are for, right?"

Mari gave the barest of nods, suddenly timid and feeling smaller than usual in her brother's arms. Shiro let out a sigh of relief, glad that she was finally taking his words to heart, and he smiled. He hugged her a bit tighter, wanting to make sure that she was being reassured, that she knew that she was loved and that he would always be here for her. Pidge and Lance were quick to follow, wrapping their arms around the siblings as well and sharing the love.

"Awww, I've gotta get in on this. Group hug!" Hunk exclaimed, and he nearly tackled the four of them as he joined in on the team embrace. Allura and Coran exchanged knowing smiles before joining in, leaving Keith as the only outlier.

"You're the only one left, Mullet," Lance grinned and Keith bristled. "What are you doing over there? C'mon and join the hug fest!"

"I'd rather not," he replied bluntly, his uncomfortableness with the whole situation evident.

"Don't be such a sour puss," Lance chided.

"Yeah! Get over her and feel the love!" Pidge insisted with a laugh.

Keith grimaced at the thought and he racked his brain for possible ways to gracefully escape being forced into the team huddle. His gaze fell on Mari who looked so small and rather smushed in the center of the group. Their eyes locked for an instant before she looked away in embarrassment, her face turning an even deeper crimson than before, and his guilt from early flared once more.

 _Shiro's my friend. Why wouldn't I care that his stupid little sister is potentially causing him more trouble?_

Despite Mari not remembering it and the lack of seriousness behind the statement, he had still thoughtlessly said something that ended up being very hurtful to her. And in her anger and pain she had lashed out at him, and Keith had been too focused on himself—how _he_ was feeling—to look past her cruel words and notice how deep of an impact his remark had on her. Then to make matters worse he had left her on the cliff, probably causing her to think that she had been abandoned completely.

Mari had endured so much strife up until now and she needed the support. The least he could do was help reassure her and let her know that she could count on the _whole_ team to be there for her.

So with the guilt winning over and propelling him forward, Keith sighed and silently knelt down on the floor to join the group hug.

* * *

** **Author's note:** So I made it a thing that Mari slips into speaking Japanese when she gets really distressed. This is what she said to Shiro:

"Takashi, I am really sorry…I am sorry. Help…Please help me, Takashi. Everything hurts…It hurts, it hurts, it hurts!"

 **And then here are a few more translations:**

Gomen= Sorry

Itaino, itaino tondeke=pain, pain, go/fly away

 **Anyways, feel free to add a comment/review down below and tell me what you think! :D Your input is always appreciated!**


	12. Chapter 12

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

After she had gotten changed and eaten something, Mari was finally ready to talk. Upon her request, everyone gathered in the observation deck, the thick and fluffy layer of pillows and blankets once again covering the floor. The Arusian sky was gradually getting lighter, the sun due to rise in the next half-varga or so.

Snuggling down near the window, the others joined her, Shiro reclining on her left and Pidge burrowing under a blanket to her right. Hunk, Keith, Allura, and Coran got comfortable next to them while Lance eagerly dove into the center of the soft and warm plush pile.

"Aw yeah!" he beamed, rolling over onto his stomach. "This is the _perfect_ sleepover setting!"

"We already had a sleepover here, Lance," Pidge said, casting him a devious grin. "When you were in the healing pod."

"Whaaaat? You guys had a sleepover without me?" he pouted. "No fair!"

"Are you sure you want everyone here?" Shiro whispered to Mari as Lance continued to whine in the background. "You don't want this to be a one-on-one thing between us?"

"I've been causing all of you guys grief for the past few weeks; I think it's only fair for everyone to know the reason behind it all," she admitted. "Like you said, we're a team—we have to be comfortable enough to confide in one another. Besides, all of you guys already saw my personal memories. It's a little too late to make this discussion a private sibling thing."

She cast Shiro a pointed look and he winced. "Sorry, about that," he shrugged.

"Well, at least everything will be easier to explain now that you've seen them," she sighed. Then hugging a pillow closer to herself, she took a deep breath and said, "Okay…I'm ready now. Ask whatever you want."

A million questions had been building up inside Shiro's head since they'd watched her memories, but now he wasn't quite sure what to ask first. "I suppose we'd better start at the root of this problem," he finally decided. "When did all this verbal abuse being? Like, when did you start noticing what other people were saying about you?"

Mari squeezed her cushion tighter, unsure how to answer. "I don't know…When I was a little kid, I guess? I'd always hear a lot of people saying stupid stuff about me and praising you. There wasn't a specific time when I actually realized what was going on. It was just kinda… _there_."

"Okay, and how did you feel about it?" Shiro asked.

"It…It hurt. For a while I didn't really believe the crap they were saying. But hearing the same demeaning stuff—whether it was true or not—over and over again was really getting to me. And I guess with mom repeatedly seeming to agree with what they said, I started to believe their words. It was like, if even my own mother thinks I'm a bother, then maybe it's true."

She took a shaky breath and Shiro began to rub her back, encouraging her to continue. "I guess I was always kinda jealous of you," she murmured. "Everyone loved you, they practically idolized you. You were good at everything: grades, sports, talking to other people. And I just wasn't. I don't think mom would ever admit it, but it's pretty obvious she favors you more."

Shiro grimaced, sadly unable to deny it. But while they were on the topic of their mother, that brought them to his next inquiry.

"Mom, she…she hit you when we were in the hospital. Has she done anything else like that to you?"

"Not a thing," his sister shook her head solemnly. "After that she kinda just avoided me."

"Why didn't you try confronting her about it?"

"I didn't want to. I was honestly too scared of her," Mari admitted. Then chuckling bitterly she added, "That's why I began taking karate and judo after the accident: they got me away from her for the day, and I learned how to defend myself."

"You thought your mom was gonna _attack_ you one day?!" Lance shrilled incredulously, earning him an annoyed glare from her. "Yeah she seems pretty mean, but I don't think she'd go that far!"

"I was six! My head was full of wild possibilities!" Mari snapped back defensively. "I'd always wanted to practice martial arts anyways, and this was my chance to finally take lessons."

"Why didn't you tell me or dad about how mom was acting?" Shiro asked, bringing them back to the discussion at hand before they could get too far off topic.

"I told dad everything a few days after your hospitalization and he'd nearly blown up at mom about it. I'd never seen either of them so angry before. It was probably one of their worst fights ever. Even so, mom didn't really seem to take anything he said seriously. She was still quick to anger and stubborn as hell."

"So you take after her then?" Lance chimed in again, and Mari silently socked him in the arm.

"Owwww…Rude!" he huffed, grumpily rubbing his new sore spot.

"Why didn't you tell me then?" Shiro asked, ignoring Lance's displeased grumbles. "About the details of the accident and what happened afterwards, I mean. I'm sure I could've talked some sense into mom."

"I thought someone had already shared the specifics with you, but I guess not…I didn't think you'd be able to do much anyways. It would only worry you and that was the last thing you needed while you healed. Then you were always busy with school after that and you needed to focus on getting into the Garrison. I just didn't want to bother to you with my own problems," Mari said, drawing her knees up to her chest and resting her chin on them. "What mom said and did to me that day affected me deeper than I realized. Reflecting on everything now, I think your hospitalization was what really pushed me to my limit."

Shiro nodded in understanding. The human mind was a fragile thing, especially when it came to children whose brains were still developing. Every bad thing that Mari had heard about her had been buried deep in her psyche, slowly chipping away at her until she'd been pushed too far and began to accept them as truth. They had been subconsciously driving her actions as a child, and even now she was still struggling to free herself from all of the lies and cruel words.

"So what happened after you were pulled out of the Garrison?" he continued his questioning. "Tell me what happened the year I was gone."

Mari pressed her lips into a thin line and she stared grimly out the window at the brightening sky, anxiously kneading her pillow as she contemplated her reply.

"Getting pulled out of the Garrison was really hard for me," she finally sighed, her voice quiet. "I was depressed. I couldn't bring myself to get out of bed, I had zero motivation, I didn't want to be around anyone. I just didn't care about anything anymore. I didn't know what to do or how I could make things better. It was like that for me for weeks. Then out of nowhere I was being dragged to your funeral. I hadn't even thought about you, I was so wrapped up in my own misery. During the burial I barely even knew what was going on and that got mom riled up. And then she'd said _that_ awful thing."

Her voice trailed off and the others recalled that single awful phrase they'd heard during the memory of the funeral:

 _It should have been Mari instead._

"I know she probably didn't really mean it and just said something thoughtless out of grief. But having my own mother say that about me, wishing that I was the one who had died…" Mari paused to take a deep and calming breath; she couldn't cry, she wouldn't cry. She'd already cried enough today.

Glaring harshly at the ceiling, she continued, "That was the snapping point for me and reality came crashing down on me like a ton of bricks. All of that time and energy I put into studying so I could graduate early and get into the Garrison had gone to waste. I wasn't allowed to enroll in any space exploration programs at other academies. My dream was crushed all because my older brother had disappeared, and I was so, _so_ angry. It felt like the world was against me and I started blaming you for everything, for all the misery in my life. For a moment, I really, really hated you."

Mari couldn't stop the tears now, her guilt too overwhelming and her chest aching. "I-It was so selfish of me!" she wept in frustration, her voice breaking. "I was in denial and I was being so inconsiderate and childish about everything, and I hate myself for ever blaming you. Everything just hurt so damn much without you. I wanted you to come home so badly and it was all my fault that you were gone, and—and I'm so sorry, Takashi!"

"It's okay, it's okay," Shiro tried to calm her heaving sobs and he embraced her tightly once more, rubbing soothing circles on her back. "You don't need to apologize for anything. I know you didn't really mean any of the stuff you said. My disappearance wasn't your fault either."

"It _is_ my fault though," she whimpered, pulling away from him. "I forced my interest in space exploration onto you. And when you were first offered the Kerberos mission and asked me what I thought you should do, I kept encouraging you to go. After I'd tried so hard not to be a burden to you and cause you trouble, you ended up getting lost in space all because of me."

"None of that makes it your fault, Mariko," Shiro said gently, brushing several loose strands of hair out of her eyes. "Not even in the slightest. Yes, you may have peaked my interest in space exploration, but I seriously considered other career paths before deciding that I wanted to be a pilot. You helped me figure out what I was passionate about and what I wanted to do with my life, but in the end, it was my own choice to go to the Garrison.

"As for the Kerberos mission, I was having some doubts about it. I was going to be away from home for a long time and I'd never ventured that far away from the Earth before. It was a little nerve wracking to say the least, and I felt like I needed to talk to you about it. And when you told me to go for it, knowing that you had faith in me and my skills really gave me the confidence to accept the mission."

"Yeah and because of that you got kidnapped by a bunch of tyrannical purple aliens," Mari muttered, rubbing her damp eyes. Her sobs had died down a bit and she was frowning at Shiro, the guilt still heavily evident in her expression.

"But you're not to blame for Shiro's _actual_ disappearance," Keith spoke up and the others nodded.

"Yeah, you can thank the Galra for that," Lance chimed in, pronouncing the name of their enemy with disgust. "Besides, if Shiro hadn't gone on the mission, none of us would be here."

"Uh huh. We'd all probably still be on Earth," Hunk agreed. "And the Galra probably would've attacked the planet and taken the Blue Lion by now."

"Coran and I would still be asleep in the cryo-pods," Allura piped up.

"I wouldn't have figured out the truth about what happened to my dad and brother," Pidge said. "Matt could've been killed in the Gladiator arena if Shiro hadn't been there with him."

"Voltron wouldn't have been reformed and Zarkon would be even closer to completely controlling the universe," Shiro said finally. "Mari, we're all here now because of you. You shouldn't feel guilty or blame yourself for anything because rather than cause me or any one of us trouble, you continue to motivate us and hold us together. _That's_ your purpose on this team."

Mari was quiet as she took all of this information in. Was everyone right? Even though she wasn't a paladin, was she really helping the team out?

She'd met Keith and helped him interpret the message written amongst the lion carvings. Then she had helped save her brother. She'd relented the opportunity of becoming the Red Paladin—her chance to finally be a pilot—to Keith for the team's sake. In their first battle against Sendak, she'd inspired everyone to keep fighting and they had formed Voltron. When the paladins had been having trouble training and reforming Voltron, she'd spurred on a food fight that had ended up being a bonding activity. Her friendliness during her first meeting with Klaizap had led them to gaining the Arusians as their first allies. She'd helped to take down Sendak and save everyone and the lions—she'd helped to save the future of Voltron.

"You know, I'll never regret getting hit by that car for you. I don't think I could've lived with myself knowing I could have prevented something bad from happening to you," Shiro said softly, bringing her into another warm embrace. "I am so, _so_ grateful that you are still here in this world, alive and thriving. I missed you so much my talented and beautiful _imouto_ , and I'll always love you."

 _You're not troublesome, Mariko_. _You're not troublesome in the slightest._

It felt like an enormous weight was being lifted off of Mari as years worth of self-hate and the pain of the past began to subside. A warm and pleasant feeling replaced it instead, blossoming inside of her chest and spreading throughout her body. She had opened up to all of them (albeit a bit by force) and had received nothing but love, acceptance, and forgiveness. It felt too relieving for words and this time joyous tears pricked the corners of her eyes.

"I love you too, niisan," she whispered, hugging him back. "Thank you. Thank you, thank you!"

"Awww…Group hug part two!" Hunk cheered, and all at once the siblings were nearly tackled by the six other members of their team, with Keith less reluctant to join in this time around. Surrounded by a caring family made up of fun and unique individuals, Mari couldn't help but smile to herself as she cherished the moment.

* * *

** **Author's notes:** Yay! One more chapter left until I'm done with this second story! Feel free to add a comment/review down below, they're always appreciated :D

Translations:

imouto=little sister


	13. Chapter 13

**I do not own Voltron: Legendary Defender!

* * *

By the time the sun had completely risen, Mari was back at the Arusian village, accompanied by Shiro and his lion. They landed just outside of the small town and found Klaizap and the elderly Arusian woman waiting for them there.

"Mari-kooooo!" Klaizap bawled as she descended the Black Lion's ramp, and he ran up to meet her, jumping up to hug her as he got closer.

"Hi, Klaizap," she chuckled, returning the embrace before Klaizap let go of her and recomposed himself.

"You are healed now," the elder noted, coming to stand beside the warrior. "I am most relieved. How do you feel?"

"Much better now, thanks," Mari nodded. "Sorry for making you worry. We just came by today to return this."

She held out the Putaverunt Crystal to the woman, and her eyes lit up in recognition. "My relic!" she exclaimed. "It has been fixed!"

"That relic is a special type of crystal," Shiro explained as the Arusian took the object into her hands. "If someone is distressed when they touch it, it will copy and hold their memories."

The elder looked momentarily alarmed and her brow furrowed as she stared at the crystal. "And this is what happened to Mari-ko?" she inquired. "It held her memories?"

"Yeah," Mari nodded. "But don't worry, we've removed all my memories from it. Despite all the pain it caused, this thing actually proved to be pretty helpful."

She shared a knowing smile with Shiro and the elder's expression softened as she watched them. "You have changed," she noted simply. Then holding out the crystal to the human, she said, "I want you to have this, Mari-ko."

Mari looked back at her in surprise. "W-What?" she spluttered, rather taken aback. "No, no, I can't. It's your family's antique, I can't accept this."

"It is a gift," the old woman persisted. "I can tell it has helped you greatly, more than it could ever help my family. Please, take it."

"I really shouldn't…" she began to refuse once more, but the old Arusian shook her head before gently taking her hand.

"This is to remember us and your time here," she said warmly, placing the smooth crystal in her palm.

"It is a great honor to receive such a wondrous gift from one of our elders," Klaizap piped up, as if to help convince Mari, and she felt her cheeks grow warm. These Arusians just weren't going to take no for an answer.

"Okay," she relented, smiling as she clasped the orb firmly in her hand. "I'll keep it. Thank you so much for the gift."

Suddenly, Shiro's helmet comm beeped and Allura voice could be heard by the four of them. "We're ready to launch, Shiro," she relayed. "Please hurry back to the Castle."

Klaizap's face immediately fell. "You and the paladins are leaving today?" he inquired.

"Yeah, we are," Mari admitted sadly, kneeling down so that she was at eye level with him.

"Can you not stay a bit longer?" he pleaded and Mari shook her head.

"As long as we remain on Arus, you and your people will be in danger. And the last thing we want is for any of you to get hurt."

Klaizap's eyes watered and he sniffled, seemingly on the verge of crying, and Mari instinctively wrapped her arms around him. "I'm sorry, Klaizap," she said quietly. "But I'm sure we'll see each other again. Continue to protect your people, okay?"

The small warrior took a deep breath and nodded in confirmation. Pulling away from her, he quickly dried his tears and put on a brave and determined face.

"I understand. I will not let you down, Mari-ko," he said. "May you and the Paladins of Voltron stay safe on your journey."

He thrust out one hand to her and Mari blinked in surprise at it for a moment. Then chuckling, she took it and gave it a firm shake.

"It was fun spending time with you," she beamed. "Until we meet again, goodbye, Klaizap."

* * *

It had been almost a full varga since the Castle of Lions launched from Arus, taking to the skies for the first time in ten thousand years. Now as they glided past the twinkling stars, cutting through the inky blackness of space, the team trained their sights on the Balmera and prepared to face the Galra forces that awaited them.

Mari stood alone in front of a memory unit, the particles inside dimly glowing blue and floating around listlessly behind the glass. It was weird seeing them, her memories in a physical form, and she was amazed by the magic of the Putaverunt Crystal. The troublesome rock had ended up helping her face her inner demons, and she now understood why the Alteans had been so intent on finding a way to preserve and view memories. Not only did the crystal's powers conserve memories, but it shared an individual's history, explaining how they became the person that they were and how they could be helped if need be, changing them for the better.

 _I wonder what we'll do with these now_ , Mari thought, her eyes following the lazily swirling orbs. The idea of just getting rid of them and letting them disappear completely disturbed her to a degree; it would be like she was throwing a part of herself away. But she couldn't possibly imagine why they'd need to keep them unless she somehow got total amnesia, not that they would help much anyways since the ones inside the unit were only a small fraction of her memories. Maybe she could ask Coran to transfer them back into the crystal; then she could keep them in her room as a keepsake of sorts. Yeah, she'd ask him to do that the next time he was available.

Behind her, the door to the room slid open silently and she glanced over her shoulder to see Keith decked out in his paladin armor.

"I thought you'd be on the observation deck and taking in the view," Keith said as he came to stand beside her. "What are you doing in here?"

"I was there for a little while after we launched," she replied. "Then I came here to do some reflecting."

"Reflecting?"

"Yeah. A lot has happened in the past few days."

"I'll say," Keith nodded and she grinned. The two were both quiet for a moment, and Mari's smile slowly faded as she thought about what to say next.

"Keith? I…I know I don't remember what happened on that cliff, but I just wanted to say that I'm sorry," she said finally. "I'm sorry for worrying you."

Keith blinked at her in surprise and frowned. "I wasn't worried!" he began to protest, but she was staring right into his eyes, her expression so sincere and intense it made him a bit uncomfortable. He shifted his weight from one foot to the other and crossed his arms before looking away.

Sighing, he muttered, "It's okay. What happened doesn't really matter now anyways." He paused for a moment before barely uttering, "But I'm sorry to you too. For leaving you by yourself like that. There, we're even now."

"I forgive you," Mari said, smiling again. "Besides, you were trying to help me. That's why you left, right?"

"Yeah…"

She raised a quizzical eyebrow at him, but he said nothing more. There was clearly something more to their moment on the cliffs that he wasn't mentioning, and it was nagging her to no end that she still had no recollection of the event. Her gaze fell on the unit in front of her and she wondered if the crystal had managed to copy her memories of the incident before she'd dropped it and fallen. Curious, she pressed the center button on the control panel and the unit flickered on.

"What are you doing?" Keith asked, a hint of concern in his voice as a projected image slowly began to come into focus against the wall.

"Just checking something," Mari replied nonchalantly and his eyes narrowed at her suspiciously. But before he could question her again, the door suddenly opened and the rest of the paladins entered the room.

"There you two are," Shiro sighed in relief. "We're heading to the bridge to figure out a plan to free the Balmera."

"Yeah, what are you guys doing in here goofing off?" Lance huffed impatiently. "Come on! We've got a planet to sa— _Whoa_! Who are those two girls?!"

The machine had begun displaying short snippets of memory, picking up where it had left off after the funeral scene. The new images were fragments of a drift race that Mari had participated in, and after winning, she was seen being hugged by two girls at the finish line. One was petite with straight and short black hair while the other was taller, curvier, and had long blonde locks. Lance was promptly ogling both of them, and when the scene changed he groaned in disappointment.

"Those are my friends, Jia and Magdalena," Mari explained, smiling sadly at the thought of them. "We've known each other since elementary school."

"Do you know if either of them are single?" Lance asked, giving her a hopeful grin.

"The last time I talked to them they both were."

"Think you could introduce us sometime when this is all over?"

"Not a chance," she immediately denied him and he gave her an angry pout.

When the next set of projections came into focus, Mari was standing in the Blue Lion cave, snapping photos of the carvings on the walls. When she had finished, she casually packed up her belongings and slung her bag over her shoulder before abruptly bolting for the back of the cave. She hid behind a group of boulders just as a familiar individual came into view.

"Hey, this is when you met Keith!" Hunk realized and Mari nodded just as her past self tackled the boy in question, pinning him to the floor of the cave.

"Ha ha, she took you down like it was nothing," Lance chortled and Keith glared at him in irritation.

"She caught me off guard!" he snapped defensively and Pidge snorted.

"Excuses, excuses," she snickered as she readjusted her glasses, and Keith bristled.

"Well, you two certainly met in a much more hostile way than I imagined," Shiro chuckled. "No wonder it's memorable."

The image shifted again, and this time Mari's heart nearly stopped at what was displayed. Hunk yelped in surprise and Lance gasped loudly; Pidge was grinning from ear-to-ear and Keith was just staring at the picture with wide eyes; Shiro's jaw had dropped open and he stood there numbly in shock. Being projected on the wall was a teenage boy with ruffled brown hair sitting next to Mari—and he was kissing her right on the lips.

Mari slammed her hand on the shut-off button so fast and with so much force it made the entire control panel shake, and the projection immediately disappeared as the memory unit powered down. The room was silent as everyone stared at her, and she could feel her cheeks growing warmer and warmer with every passing second.

Finally, Shiro spoke, his features contorted into a grimace and his right eye twitching ever so slightly. "Mariko…" he said lowly, his tone sending a chill down her spine. "Care to tell me why you were _kissing_ Aaren?"

"H-He kissed me first, I swear!" she stammered, holding up her hands in defense. "We were talking and he just leaned in with no warning! I didn't want him to do it all, I promise!"

"Whoa, whoa, WHOA! Who the heck is _Aaren_?!" Lance exclaimed, pronouncing the name as if it left a bad taste in his mouth. "And how the heck did you manage to get your first kiss before me?!"

"Looks like you've got a lot of explaining to do," Pidge drawled out gleefully with a mischievous smirk.

"There's nothing else to explain!" Mari insisted just as Allura spoke over the Castle's loudspeakers.

"Paladins and Mari, you are needed on the bridge. Please report here _immediately_ ," she ordered, not even bothering to mask the annoyance in her voice.

"Well, you heard Allura," Keith said, nodding towards the door. "Let's go."

"But Mari's boyfriend…" Lance whimpered just as she snapped, "He's not my boyfriend!"

"We've got more important things to be thinking about right now, Lance," Keith rolled his eyes.

"He's right," Hunk nodded in agreement. "We've gotta focus on how we're going to save Shay and her people."

As they headed for the exit, Shiro matched Mari's pace and smiled wryly. "So, can I expect Aaren to be coming over for dinner when we get back home?"

"No!" his sister blushed and she nudged him playfully. "There's nothing going on between us. I don't even like him that way. His feelings are completely one-sided."

"All right, I believe you," Shiro laughed lightly. Then nudging her back he added, "You're not allowed to have a boyfriend just yet anyways. He has to meet all my standards _and_ pass the worthiness tests that I give him."

"Okay, _dad_ ," Mari said, rolling her eyes but beaming nonetheless. Despite the fact that they were going to be heading straight into battle, she couldn't help but smile. Years and years of pain and loneliness had been lifted off of her shoulders and she felt like she could finally breathe easy for once. She was flying through space with her brother and a new family that truly loved her and cared about her. She hadn't felt this happy in a very long time, and she couldn't wait to see what the future held for her and the rest of Team Voltron.

* * *

 ****Author's note:** Ha ha I can't believe I originally said (at the beginning of chapter 1) that this story would be done by around Christmas. And now it's well into February xD All of that editing and rewriting took a lot more time and thought than I expected. Anyhow, that wraps up the second story in this series. I should be able to upload the first chapter of the third one sometime this weekend, but after that I won't have a set uploading schedule (because schoolwork has been eating up more and more of my free time as of lately -_-).

But please feel free to drop a comment/review down below. They're always appreciated and I'll do my best to reply to them. Thank you all for your continued support and I hope to see you (...hear from you? idk) soon in the third story featuring Mari and the rest of the Voltron crew! :D


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